Our Bonds

The Saiun flew back to its owner after scouting the area ahead.

"No enemies within the next 20km." (Kumano)

"All right. We should be fine as long as we move slowly." (Suzuya)

"No! We need to go fast!" (Shimakaze)

Before Shimakaze can speed off, Suzuya grabbed her by her ribbon and held her back.

"Guh!" (Shimakaze)

"Come on. Even if this is just an excercise, we still need to be cautious. Besides, you won't want to set a bad example for the young ones, right?" (Suzuya)

Shimakaze looked at the three destroyers staring at her innocently.

"I understand. I will slow down." (Shimakaze)

"That's a good girl." (Suzuya)

Suzuya turned around to face her fleet,

"Alright people. Let's continue forward. Shout out if you spot anything. Let's win this match!" (Suzuya)

"Yes!" (All)

I watched on the monitor as Kumano launched her Saiun into the air again. Right now, we are having a practice excercise between two fleets. Kashima came up with this idea. She said she wanted to see how much her students have absorbed and test them. So right now, we have two fleets fighting against each other. There will be a time-limit. I planned to end the match by dinner time.

The attacking fleet is led by Suzuya. She is accompanied by Kumano, Shimakaze, Matsu, Usugumo and Hatsuzuki. The defending fleet is led by Shouhou. She has Zuihou-chan, Yukikaze, Shigure-chan, Shiratsuyu and Harusame. Basically, each fleet has two light aircraft carriers and four destroyers. The defending fleet will be protecting a bouy, but that's just for show. The main goal is to wipe out everyone in the opposing fleet. Along the way, the attacking fleet will be met with targets to shoot at. Of course, these targets are meant for the three young ones to test their aiming. The other stronger girls are not allowed to help or interfere in this stage. The first fleet to win three times wins the match.

Let's see how Shouhou's fleet is doing.

On the monitor, Shouhou is helping Zuihou-chan adjust her bowstring. Is there something wrong with her equipment? Maybe it wasn't calibrated properly.

"There. Try pulling it now." (Shouhou)

Zuihou-chan took her bow from Shouhou and tested the taut of the bowstring.

"It's easier now. Thank you, Shouhou Onee-chan!" (Zuihou-chan)

"Eheheh. Your welcome." (Shouhou)

"Kashima, have you taught them how to calibrate and maintain their weapons?"

"No. I was sure Yuubari taught them how

to do it." (Kashima)

Right. Yuubari is our weapons expert. She is in charge of calibrating and maintainance. Usually, she will be the one to teach the new girls how to maintain their gear. Speaking of which, I haven't seen Yuubari in a while. She must have holed herself in the factory, creating some weird contraption or weapon again. I'm going to speak to her after this.

"Maybe it's a bit too early to have this practice match."

"It's fine. Let them use this as an opportunity to learn. It's much more interesting than being holed up in a classroom all day." (Rei)

The three of us looked on as Suzuya's fleet enters the target practice area. I turned on the microphone to announce the start of their shooting trial.

"Attacking fleet, you are now entering the shooting range. Shoot as many target as you can well keeping in formation. Suzuya, kumano and Shimakaze, you can give them tips but you are not allowed to fire a single shell. Get ready in three... Two... One."

On my cue, target boards popped out of water. Matsu was the first one to fire. Her first missed the targey by several metres.

"Slow down of you need to. You missed but you can use that as reference and adjust your angles." (Kumano)

The three young destroyers practiced firing while moving around. It's different from the usual firing practice. Normally, they can stay still and continue shooting until the hit the target. This time, they have to be constantly on the move while shooting.

"You can use your torpedos but remember, you have limited stock."

"You are letting them use torpedos for this?" (Rei)

"Why not? They are practice torpedos anyway."

"Why about the submarine girls?" (Kashima)

"They are operating the machines deep underwater. Unless they surface, they won't get hit by the torpedos."

The targets that popped out run on a timer and are controlled by a device underwater. Shioi and Shion are swimming around, activating each device and letting the targets pop out of the water. Once a target is destroyed, they will replace it in time for the next round.

The three destroyers continued their shooting practice. There were twenty targets, only eight of them were destroyed. Matsu and Usugumo shot three each. Hatsuzuki shot two. They still need more practice.

"Kashima,"

"I know. I will give them more lessons on shooting." (Kashima)

The fleet continued their advance. Meanwhile, Zuihou-chan, from the defending fleet, launched a type-2 recon plane into the direction where the attacking fleet is coming from. Looks like Shouhou is teaching her how to use scout planes.

"There are different signals you need to memorize. They can help you figure out if the enemy is close. If I'm not wrong, Suzuya should be coming-" (Shouhou)

"Ahhhh!" (Zuihou-chan)

"What's wrong?" (Shouhou)

With teary eyes, Zuihou-chan looked at Shouhou,

"I-it's gone... Shot down..." (Zuihou)

"Ah... They are coming." (Shouhou)

Shouhou was right. Suzuya is approaching fast. Zuihou-chan's scout plane was shot down by Hatsuzuki, the anti-air expert. Because of that, the defending fleet have a brief idea on where their opponents are coming from.

"Launch a wave of dive bombers and escort fighters. They rest of you, prepare for combat!" (Shouhou)

"Time for me to shine! I'll be the first to defeat one of them!" (Shiratsuyu)

"This is training for the young ones. Don't get carried away."

This girl is always obsessed with getting first place.

"Don't worry. I will leave the rest for them." (Shiratsuyu)

Meanwhile, on Suzuya's side,

"Nice shot!"

"Thank you." (Hatsuzuki)

"As expected of our anti-air specialist." (Matsu)

"Well, we can expect them to come here soon. Get ready." (Suzuya)

"This time, it's my turn to protect the fleet." (Matsu)

"Sorry. Should I not have shot down that aircraft?" (Hatsuzuki)

Hatsuzuki had a look of guilt on her face. She looks like a puppy who realized she did something wrong.

"No no. That's not it. Shooting the scout plane stops our enemies from finding out our position. They won't be able to get the drop in us now. They only know that we are coming. So shooting down that scout plane was the correct decision." (Kumano)

"Kumano's right. They might be prepared, but this was our last known position. Let me teach you girls something nice..." (Suzuya)

Suzuya's fleet made a turn to starboard. They are approaching from a different direction. She is using the tactics Zuihou usually uses in Excercises. Looks like Shouhou's fleet might lose this round. She and Zuihou-chan already launched the first wave of bombers in their previous direction. It's going to take some time to get those planes back. This may be interesting fight.

Back on the defenders end, Shouhou was confused at the fact that their planes haven't encountered the opposing fleet for a while. She hasn't figured out that they are advancing from a different direction. The lack of experience between the two flagship is so obvious. Maybe I should assign Shouhou to lead a fleet, so she can get some experience.

"This is weird. The type-2 was shot down around this position, right?" (Shouhou)

"Yes. But there's nobody around." (Zuihou-chan)

"Maybe they are coming from a different direction?" (Shigure-chan)

"A different... Crap! Zuihou-chan, call back your planes. Everyone prepare for bat-"

beep* *beep*

The fire detector on Akizuki's head started beeping.

"Incoming enemy aircraft! Starboard side!" (Akizuki)

Kumano and Suzuya had launched their first wave of bombers and escort fighters.

"Just as we discussed, diamond formation! Zuihou-chan and I will deal with Suzuya and Kumano. Akizuki-chan and Shigure-chan, you two handle the planes. Shiratsuyu-san and Yukikaze-chan, take out the enemy destroyers." (Shouhou)

"Let's go, Yukikaze-chan." (Shiratsuyu)

"Yes, Shiratsuyu-senpai!" (Yukikaze)

"This is exciting! I can't wait to see how my students have grown!" (Kashima)

Kashima bounced up and down in excitement. Something else bounced with her.

I shift my focus back to the monitor before anyone catches me. Right now, Shouhou and Zuihou-chan launched another wave of fighter and bombers to intercept the ones from the attacking fleet, commencing a dogfight.

"Uryah!" (Suzuya)

"Don't stray too far from the fleet!" (Shouhou)

Both fleets advanced to meet each other. Looks like both of them have the same strategy. The two light aircraft carriers from both fleets stayed behind to launch wave after wave of aircrafts. The opposing air fleet ignore the destroyers fighting below and went straight for the carriers, only to be shot down by the anti-air experts on each fleet.

"Keep it up. Intercept as much as you can." (Shouhou)

"Yes!" (Akizuki)

"I will protect the fleet!" (Yukikaze)

Yukikaze stuck her butt out as she launched a torpedo into the sea, and it struck Matsu.

"Ahhhh!!!" (Matsu)

"Matsu, damage critical. Propeller destroyed, internal explosions in ammunition, engine room flooding. Unable to continue." (Announcer)

"Oww... What was that?" (Matsu)

"Too bad. You're out." (Imuya)

"Eh?" (Matsu)

"Let's bring you back." (Imuya)

Imuya pushed Matsu along back to shore. Of course, the submarine girls in her recovery duty again.

"Heavy damage with just a single torpedo... She really is a lucky ship."

"Even though she is the newest, she is already this good." (Kashima)

"You think so? Yukikaze-chan is called the luckiest ship for a reason. It might have nothing to do with her skills." (Rei)

"Luck is still an important factor. Kashima, keep training her."

"Yes." (Kashima)

"Don't injure my flight deck!" (Kumano)

"What?"

Damn... I missed it. When I looked back at the monitor, Kumano has moderately damaged. Something managed to strike her.

"Success!" (Zuihou-chan)

"It was right to bring the planes back from behind." (Shouhou)

Now I see. Kumano was hit by one of the bombers that belong to Shouhou's first wave. She copied her sister's tactics. Hatsuzuki didn't manage to turn around in time, so she couldn't intercept.

Another explosion occur near the two Shouhou-class sisters.

"Not yet... I will-" (Akizuki)

Akizuki was hit by Shimakaze's torpedo, resulting in critical damage.

"Akizuki, damage critical. Hull integrity compromised. Explosions in ammunition and torpedo room." (Announcer)

"Let's get you back to shore nano!" (Iku)

"Iku-chan?! When did you-?" (Akizuki)

Now both fleets have equal numbers. The attacking fleet have lost air superiority. The defending fleet have lost their anti-air expert. This may be a loss for the attacking fleet. Suzuya can only carry a very limited amount of planes. In contrast, Zuihou-chan and Shouhou can carry huge amounts. Unless, the attacking fleet can put one of the sisters out of the battle, I can't see any chance of them winning this round.

But anyway, the round is about to end... now.

A bell rung, signalling the end of the match.

"That's enough! All sh.i.p.s, return to base. Get yourselves patched up and resupplied. Round two will begin one hour later. Currently, the defending team is in the lead."

"No way~" (Suzuya)

"Yes! We did it!" (Shiratsuyu)

"The sides will be switched. Shouhou's fleet is now on the attacking side. Suzuya's fleet will be defending the bouy. Do your best to win the match."

Maybe Kashima's excitement is rubbing off on me, but I can't wait to see the match results.