Our Bonds

The other Azur Lane girls were in shock. Kaga's eyes widened and her face twisted in anger,

"You- How dare you suggest such nonsense?! You want us to attack and kill our own people?!" (AL Kaga)

Even if I give an explanation, I highly doubt that she would accept it.

You already made your decision. Don't falter.

"Then what do you suggest? Sit back and let the enemy kill you? Your friends are now monsters hellbent are killing you and everyone. Are you telling me that you would rather die and let your beloved Akagi and the others destroy humanity? You should know about the effects of the black mental cube by now."

"I can still talk to her. I can convince her." (AL Kaga)

"Talk to her? Look around you. Right now, as we argue, the others are getting hurt trying to 'talk' to their friends. The enemy is constantly on the attack while you are trying to talk to them. Because of the black mental cube, the enemy is able to recover from life-threatening wounds or even come back from the dead. They may have unlimited amounts of stamina as well. Compared to those who aren't affected and my girls, the odds are stacked against all of you. Dealing a fatal blow is the only way to incapacitate them, even for a short moment."

"No! I refuse to accept this." (AL Kaga)

"Kaga! Right now, like it or not, I'm the commanding officer for this mission. I may not be in charge of Azur Lane but I'm still your superior. I outrank you."

Kaga became silent. I'm sorry but this is the only method I can think off. We need to buy time for reinforcements to arrive and for Commander Ao to contain the cube's influence. Against an immortal enemy, the only way to stop them is by dealing enough damage to incapacitate them. Even though it won't take long for them to recover, at least we can stop them for a while. Akagi's recovery took longer than the Battleship Ta-class we fought a while back. Assuming that the cube has the same strength as before, it probably won't be able to handle the repairs of multiple girls as once. We can cut the connection while they are down but if the wounds are fatal, it might end up killing them instead. We want to keep them alive.

"Once again, subdue the enemy through all means necessary! I will take responsibility for any fatalities."

"Roger!" (Maizuru girls)

"..." (AL girls)

The Azur Lane girls are hesitant. Of course they would be, I just ordered them to kill their own friends.

"Are you certain they won't die? No matter what we do?" (AL Zuikaku)

Zuikaku's voice appeared on the comms system,

"Yeah. It is the same cube Shirakami and the others retrieved back then. The Abyssal used the cube to revive and repair it's fallen brethren. Your friends probably won't die no matter how much damage you do and will only stop moving for a few seconds if you deal enough damage. Cutting off the-"

"Enough." (AL Zuikaku)

Zuikaku drew her sword and pointed it at Enterprise,

"That's all I need to hear." (AL Zuikaku)

She is smiling?

"Ooh~" (Taihou)

"5th carrier division, what do you think-" (AL Kaga)

"Shut up! Stay out of this, senpai! For the longest time, I wanted to fight like this. You better not disappoint me, Grey Ghost!" (AL Zuikaku)

Zuikaku took her stance, and lunged at Enterprise. The two aircraft carriers entered into a melee, with Enterprise occasionally backing off to fire arrows at Zuikaku. Zuikaku parried the arrows. Woah. What reaction speed! Zuikaku immediately closed the gap between them and continued her attack. I know I ordered them to be violent, but I didn't expect Zuikaku to be so bloodthirsty. And her fighting style is unheard off for an aircraft carrier.

"Ufufufu~ Finally~" (AL Shoukaku)

Shoukaku too?

"Because you were my senpai, I had to put up with all your bullying. Now... Ufufu... Thank you, Admiral-san. For giving me this chance. All these years... I will make sure to pay you back tenfold!" (AL Shoukaku)

Akagi shrieked at Shoukaku before launching her planes. Shoukaku blew her flute as she floated into the air while launching her own set of planes. Both of their planes engaged in a dogfight, filling the air and water between them with explosions and bullets.

"Now then, let's see which of us is the better gamer, Ayanami-chan!" (???)

Who is that girl wearing an oversized jacket? And why is she fighting Ayanami? Tenryuu was supposed to be fighting her.

"Oi! Pipsqueak! Don't butt into my fight!" (Tenryuu)

"I'm Long Island. And stay out of this, old hag." (Long Island)

"Huuh?!" (Tenryuu)

Smoke engulfed Fusou and Yamashiro are they were pushed back. They are up against two shipgirls wielding naginatas. The red haired girl with large fox ears wore a hakama and a single chest plate which only protects her chest while revealing her midriff. The other one with long white hair and dog ears wore grey shorts and a pair of Haidates protecting her thighs. Like the other girl, she only wore an sarashi around her chest area, leaving her midriff exposed.

"Damn it. We won't lose to the both of you!" (Fusou)

"Well said." (???)

"Looks like we share the same sentiment. Right, Onee-sama?" (???)

Two relatively small but busty girls stood next to the two aviation battlesh.i.p.s. Both of them seem to be catgirls.

"Who are you two?" (Fusou)

"The same as you. I'm Fusou." (AL Fusou)

"Little sister of Fusou, Yamashiro." (AL Yamashiro)

"Let's chat over some tea later. Right now, let's take out Ise and Hyuuga together and show them who is the better dreadnought aviation battleship." (AL Fusou)

The rest of the Azur Lane girls begin to join in the fight. There are explosions all over the place as both parties shot at each other. Rei and I shouted orders at the various groups, alerting them whenever a downed enemy has finished repairing herself and who to assist.

As the fight dragged on, the injured girls retreated to the back as Akashi and Vestal rushed to do emergency repairs and first aid on them. The girls are starting to be exhausted and the enemy is showing no signs of stopping their onslaught. I have already sortied the rest of the girls in my base, except for Mamiya. I can order the injured girls to retreat back to base for reapirs but then the remaining girls will be forced to handle more of the heat. All of them are already close to their limit.

"Yo." (Rondo)

Rondo's voice showed up on the comm system,

"Ron- Grand Admiral Rondo. Things are getting worse. Requesting immediate assistance."

"Yeah, I got you. On your left." (Rondo)

My left?

"This is flagship Nagato. We are approaching at full spead." (Nagato)

The camera panned to the left of the battlefield. Nagato slowly came into view, followed by several fleets of shipgirls. How many fleets did he send? But I don't think this is enough.

"Sorry. It took a whole to gather them." (Rondo)

"Is that everyone?"

"What? You wanted more?" (Rondo)

"There are slightly more than 300 of them."

"They increased? Didn't you say there were only 100 shipgirls before. And only five fleets at the start?" (Rondo)

"That was hours ago. I don't know how, but more of them kept pouring out of the island."

"Oh whatever. Numbers aren't everything. You know this. Order the other girls to retreat to the rear. We will take it from here." (Rondo)

Is this really alright? Even with everyone's help, we are still severely outnumbered.

"Come on." (Rei)

Rei slapped me on the back,

"Ow. What?"

"They are waiting for your orders." (Rei)

The exhausted girls looked on as Nagato, Yamato, Houshou, Ise, Akagi, Iowa and Warspite and many others lead their fleet into battle. I need to take this chance they provided us,

"Nagato, this is Admiral Keita of Maizuru Naval Base. We don't have time so I will keep it brief. The enemy is being affected by a strange power which makes them immortal. They can be incapacitated only for a short period of time before getting up again. Azur Lane's Commander is uncontactable but I believe he is in the midst of containing the source of this power. Your orders are the same as the others. Subdue the enemy by all means necessary. Buy time for Azur Lane to figure out a solution and stop this madness."

"Roger!" (All)

"Maizuru and Azur Lane, retreat to the rearguard. All injured personnel are to return to Maizuru Naval Base and take your dose of quick repair buckets. And that means you too, Azur Lane."

I will just replenish my stock from HQ and through expeditions later.

"Once you are done with repairs, immediately return to the battlefield."

I watched as the battle intensifies. Shipgirls continuously moved in and out of my docks as I kicked the fast repair and resupply stations into high gear. The sea burst into flames and the sky turned orange as the whole area was covered in nothing but towers of water and explosions.

"Houshou, torpedos approaching from starboard."

"Roger. Evading." (Houshou)

"Mutsu, the Fusou sisters need help with the battlesh.i.p.s. Go back them up."

"Roger~" (Mutsu)

"Avrora, you going to far in. Retreat back a bit and regroup with the others." (Rei)

"Извините <Sorry> Understood." (Avrora)

"Gangut, stop engaging in fistfights. You are just going to tire yourself again." (Rei)

"Can't help it. The enemy is a Martial artist. Come on, Honoka! You can do better than that!" (Gangut)

"Zuihou, watch your plane count. You are launching too many at once. Shigure-chan, Yuudachi is down. Encircle her with fire to delay her recovery."

"Understood." (Shigure-chan)

"Yuudachi can still fight poi!" (Yuudachi)

"Not you, Yuudachi. Azur Lane's Yuudachi. Kawakaze, incoming enemy bombers approaching from port side. Take evasive actions. Akizuki, please intercept." (Shigure)

"Thanks for the heads up, Shigure-nee." (Kawakaze)

"Intercepting." (Akizuki)

Shigure, Rei and I gave orders and informed the girls about their surroundings. With things being so chaotic on the ground, they need all the information they can get and react at a moments notice.

We also discovered that fire helps slow down the recovery process, so I assigned Zuihou-chan and Shigure-chan to 'containment' duty. I call it containment but it's just delaying the inevitable.

The battle continued into the night. My supplies are dwindling and I'm almost out of repair buckets.

"This is tough... How much longer?" (Yamato)

"I don't know. Vestal?"

"Sorry. I don't know either." (Vestal)

"At this rate, we will all get slaughtered." (Avrora)

"Comrades! Now is not the time for negative thoughts! Focus on pushing back the enemy. We will last all winter if we have to!" (Sovetskaya Rossiya)

"We will be sunk by then." (Zuihou)

"This is hopeless... We have no chance at all." (Fusou)

They are getting exhausted and demoralised. Come on, Commander Ao. I don't know what we are doing, but you better hurry up!

"This is... Azur... Comman- Anyone... Isolated... Target... Destroy... Bottom of island..." (Commander Ao)

The message wasn't properly sent out, but I can understand what he wants. He has isolated the cube to the bottom of the island and wants someone to destroy it. About time he said something.

"Commander Ao, I hope you can hear me. How much firepower do we need to destroy it?"

There was static, followed by a muffled voice,

"...three..."

"Shioi, you still there?"

"Yes. What is- woah! What is it?" (Shioi)

"How many torpedos do you have left?"

"Two. But at this rate, I will need to return for supplies." (Shioi)

"Shion?"

"I have two left as well." (Shion)

"Alright. Imuya, you are in command of the submarine fleet for the time being."

"Eh? What? Why?" (Imuya)

"I going to borrow Shioi and Shion for a while. Don't worry. You will do fine."

"Do your best, Imuya-chan." (Shioi)

Alright, you two. Head to the spot where the tubes where protruding from."

"Roger!" (Shioi & Shion)

"The rest of you hold on a little longer."

"The Commander is alive! Let's bring back our friends!" (Peter Strasser)

"Admiral, we are approaching the location." (Shioi)

"Launch all your torpedos at that single spot. The cube is in there. Shion, keep one torpedo just in case."

"Roger!" (Shioi)

"Understood." (Shion)

Shioi and Shion launched three torpedos at the spot where the tubes are coming from. Upon contact, the torpedos exploded, destroying a large portion of the rock.

"Look! The affected shipgirls." (Rei)

The affected shipgirls suddenly flinched, with some falling over and some trying to stand on their feet. Their movements became sluggish. It's working.

"All units, stop attacking. Do not use lethal force. Fall back and focus on defending yourselves!"

"Admiral! I can see. A disgusting cube with tentacles.(Shioi)

I expected this,

"Shion! Destroy it!"

"Roger! Please! Hit it!" (Shion)

Shion fired her last torpedo at the cube, blowing it up. The resulting shockwave sent the two I-400 class submarines tumbling backwards.

"Kyaa!" (Shion)

"Shockwave! Brace yourselves!"

The command room shook violently. What the heck? It was that strong?!

"It worked! They stopped moving!" (AL Monarch)

The tubes connecting to the affected shipgirls turned into ash. One by one, they all fell onto the surface, unconscious.

If the shockwave was this strong...

"Monarch, take some girls with you and find your Commander! I can feel the shockwave from here. He might be in trouble!"

"No way! I got it! Neptune, the both of you! Ibuki and Baltimore, follow me." (AL Monarch)

The rest of you retrieve the other and bring them back to the island. Vestal and Akashi, I need you two to check on the girls and make sure they are alright."

You better be alive, Ao. I need you to repay your debt.