Our Bonds

The third time was not the charm.

Matsuri launched a torpedo, taking out the remaining Transport Ship Wa-class elite. Nothing again.

"Aww~ Another dud." (AL Shirakami Fubuki)

Fubuki's ears bent in disappointment.

"This is getting troublesome." (AL Natsuiro Matsuri)

"Maybe we should have headed north-west instead. In the North-east lies is the strongest Abyssal fleet in the area. Maybe they have the cube."

"Is it alright to stay this late? Don't you have a stream later?" (Shigure-chan)

"Yeah. An APEX training stream with Towa-chan and Sumire-chan at 9pm. I can ask them to push the time back a little, but I don't really want to trouble them for my sake."

Why does Shigure-chan know about their streaming schedule?

"Me too. I have an Apex training stream with BAMWIN." (AL Shirakami Fubuki)

"Me too. I'm practicing Shion-chan and Yomi-chan later." (AL Nakiri Ayame)

"Three of you? And you are all streaming the same game? What about Mio-san?"

"I'm on break today. I can continue for a while longer. And I don't play that game." (AL Ookami Mio)

It's almost 1700hrs. 5pm. Even if they return at full speed, I doubt they will be able to make it in time. Hmm...

"The next one will be the last. Once we sink that fleet, the three of you will head back first. Whether we get the cube or not. The others... Shigure-chan, sorry but you may have to miss their stream."

"That's not a problem. I can always watch the archives." (Shigure-chan)

So it's recorded.

"Where was I? Ah, right. Zuihou, Shigure-chan and Mio-san will continue searching for the cube. We will give up once it gets dark."

"Eh? Is it alright to do that?" (AL Nakiri Ayame)

"Yeah. No worries. I can call my girls to take over the mission for you guys. It's not good to break a promise you made beforehand."

"Heeh~ You kinda like our Commander." (AL Natsuiro Matsuri)

"How so? Actually don't answer that. I don't want to know."

Something tells me I shouldn't compare myself to him. We might have something in common, but ultimately, our situations are different.

"Anyway, let's hurry up and move to the next Abyssal. It's kind of like the boss of the area so don't let your guard down."

"Roger!" (All)

The fleet made their way to where the boss of the area is, sinking two Beast Abyssal Destroyers along the way. The Beast Abyssal Destroyers were I-class, making the fight a one-sided massacre.

"Uwaah... Those look dangerous." (AL Natsuiro Matsuri)

From a distance, the girls can see the yellow and red glow emitting from Abyssal fleet. Well, I can see it too since the camera is pointing towards the abyssal fleet.

"As usual, a fleet with three flagship variants."

The enemy fleet this time is the stronger pattern. Arranged in a diamond formation, the Abyssal fleet consist of one Transport Wa-class flagship, one Light Carrier Nu-class flagship, one Battleship Ta-class flagship, one Heavy Cruiser Ne-class Elite and two Destroyer Ha-class late models. Although this is a familiar enemy, there is something off,

"Is it just me or that Wa-class is giving off a blackish glow?"

"You can seen it too?" (Zuihou)

So it's not just me. Does that mean we finally found it?

"Ayame-chan," (AL Ookami Mio)

"Yeah. That thing is giving off a bad aura." (AL Nakiri Ayame)

"Eh? What? What are you taking about?" (AL Natsuiro Matsuri)

"Looks like this is the correct one." (AL Shirakami Fubuki)

"What is it? What are you three sensing?"

"That snail-looking ship probably has the black mental cube. We can feel some sort of dangerous aura coming from it." (AL Nakiri Ayame)

"Snail-looking ship? Oh. The Transport Ship Wa-class. Certainly, it's emitting a black aura. I can't feel much from here so let's go with your intuition. Since that thing is giving off bad vibes, let's take it out along with the rest. Fleet, engage the enemy!"

"Okay, let's go! Attack wing, launch!" (Zuihou)

"Kon!" (AL Shirakami Fubuki)

Zuihou, Mio and Fubuki laughed the first wave of bombers to initiate the being run. Wait... Fubuki can launch bombers on her own?! Isn't she supposed to be a Destroyer? I have never heard of a destroyer being able to launch her own set of bombers, let alone have any aircraft carrying capacity. Where did she store and launch those bombers from? Further more, I have never seen bombers like the ones she is using. They resemble jet planes, with a spiral structure, which looks like a bamboo shoot, attached to the back of it's c.o.c.kpit. The bamboo shoot even has a pair of white fluffy fox ears sticking out at the top. What kind of aircraft is that?

The bombers dropped their payload onto the Abyssal fleet, blowing up the two Destroyer Ha-class late models and severely damaging the Transport Ship Wa-class flagship while Light Carrier Nu-class flagship only received light damages. The battleship and heavy cruiser remained unscathed. This is a good start. Just a little more and we will win.

Without giving the enemy time to recover, Shigure-chan, Ayame and Matsuri launched their own set of attacks,

"Tis time to display my might!" (AL Nakiri Ayame)

"Let them witness the power of a highschooler from hell!" (AL Natsuiro Matsuri)

The mist around Ayame thickened as she launched a barrage of shells towards the Abyssal fleet. A weird... What the heck is that? A lion? A weird lion-head-thing with a curvature body appeared beside Matsuri for a split second, before flying towards the Abyssal fleet. Not wanting to be outdone, Shigure-chan charged her cannons and launched six fireballs in rapid succession. Their attacks connect, causing the Abyssal's to erupt into a large ball of fire and smoke. I will never get tired of watching this kind of explosions. Nothing can survive this amount of destruction.

...Or so I thought.

The Transport Ship Wa-class was still standing, as if nothing had happened to it. There were tendrils sprouting from its body and connected to the Battleship Ta-class and Heavy Cruiser Ne-class. Before I can say anything, the Abyssal battleship and heavy cruiser got back on their feet, looking good as new.

"The Sirens really love to make everything harder than before."

"Tsk. This is bad." (Zuihou)

"Once more. All sh.i.p.s, concentrate fire on that Wa-class!"