"...take care of them, won't you?" The transmission ends.
All I can do is watch my RADAR readouts, as I see a flight of planes drop bombs...
They head towards the old battleship, and there's an explosion on the horizon shortly thereafter.
"...alright, Torol. I'll take it from here."
'Still pretty beat up, so even half ahead is starting to push it, but I think I should be able to one quarters.'
"Gently does it..." I wince as several hull patches complain under stress, but hold even as I push to 12kt.
Shadow the Graznian junkyard fleet, power to the transmitter. Here we go.
"...Honor, Pride, Victory. You got this Rampart." I steady my voice, and touch the comm stud.
===
Fleet Of Wrecks | Damage Control 1.2
===
"Thanks, Akashi. Dunno what I'd have done without you." Isuzu nods her thanks as my damage control teams come back, the fire extinguished.
'There's still so much to do...' Next on the list then... Tenryuu.
"...fucking great. Wake Island too?! What the fuck is command doing?" Tenryuu weakly curses from Chicago's arms, as I approach to tend to her wounds.
'I don't blame her. We lost so, so many... I'll be damned if I let her join them though!'
"Brace yourself, this is going to sting." Tenryuu nods and I pull away a ruined mass of metal that used to be a bit of superstructure.
"Hhng! Hah... Thanks, Aki." She shoots me a weak grin, and I can't help but smile back.
'Still a destroyer at heart, I think. We're gonna need those smiles of yours...'
"Even now you're still you, huh?" I tousle the light cruiser's hair and she makes a grumbly noise, face reddening, before I hear the crackle of radio chatter.
Someone's transmitting in the open? I turn, squinting behind us. Its Iowa...!
"...take care of 'em for-" An earpiercing scream of interference almost makes me miss the repeat, coming through much clearer this time.
"...USS Iowa, to... Jane Doe. I say again..." I hear Hornet perk up behind me, and a couple of the cruisers try to calm her down.
"Take care of them... Won't you?" The radio continues for a few moments more and I catch the brief, unmistakable sound of bombs falling. It cuts out. Hornet turns away, and begins to gently sob. That... That's that, then.
A few moments pass of somber quiet, as some of the fleet glance at each other. Somewhere in my head, a vicious little voice tells me that this is my sin.
"GNV Rampart, DDG-144 reporting in. Orders confirmed... Walk with the Sight, Torol. Graznian Battlegroup, I'll be with you shortly..." My head flicks up. What? A DDG?
"...I just have to take care of an enemy carrier first."
Are they insane?! Almost all of the United States' navy was sunk in a week in conventional engagements before we first got summoned!
"GNV Rampart, break off, I say again, break off!"
...no response. They're sailing to their deaths.
Fuck.
"Akashi, what should we do?" I turn, and find Isuzu looking at me, then the horizon.
"Only thing we can do. Keep going. We can't do a damn thing about some idiots ramming cannon fodder into Abyssal lines, not in this state."
The cruiser is hesitant for a moment, before she nods. "Hai."
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
===
There's a carrier out there, and its escorts. Let's give them a problem.
'What to do, what to do...?' I... Shit. Do I conserve my ERASMs or do I save the SMM-42s for something else? An SMM-42 is four to a cell and I've got 44 left, but they're not nearly as good at killing capitals.
They're all purpose, not dedicated strike too, so they might come in handy in the future.
'...or... Maybe I just need to bring the carrier out of the fight.'
One ERASM to the deck should cover it, now that I think about it. Second War air defences aren't an issue... Target locked. Solution installed. "Missile away."
A pillar of metal kicks out of a cell, missile roaring into the heavens.
===
The Wo class frowned. They'd slain another of the hated enemy's battleships, but the same had apparently chewed through an entire battle line and most of her air wing.
Such a hassle. All that, for one battleship? The Princess would... Would be Disappointed...!
The ones the battleship had screened had gotten away, but they'd be back. She could just slowly chase them into a trap.
'By the way they're sailing, they're going to-'
She saw something, a dark shape, a blur, coming down from above. And then her deck detonated.
By chance, one door was left open. The inferno struck the magazine and in that moment she ceased to be.
===
'...oh wow. I, uh... okay. ' I pull up my aviators, and squint at the fireball on the horizon.
Damn, that's almost a second sun! Jeez. Okay. I... Wow. I'm just going to get going now.
"Damage control, status?" Reports are promising. Some connections have been reset and they've hardened the hull patches, pumped the flooding.
A shiver goes up my spine as the formerly knocked out engines comes back up, even partly. A... fuck, I dunno how to describe other than vitality surges up my body from the base of my spine.
I set my drone to leaping SONAR and go to a comfortable cruise of 19 knots, unable to help a little bit of cheer.
'I did it!' Keying the mic, I report in.
===
I see a small flash on the horizon. That's... That, then. Another fucking senseless death-
"This is GNV Rampart. Strike complete. We still on?" What.
How...?
...no way they could've... Unless...
'Could this be some modern destroyer, summoned once more somehow?'
"This is Akashi..." I pause, thinking...
"...Interrogative. What do you... Oh. Linking up." Right, that. Alright, carefully does it Akashi.
Excuses...
I glance over to Hornet... She's not holding up well. Flooding's getting worse, and I don't think she'll last more than a day at this rate.
"...negative, Rampart. We have casualties and damage throughout the fleet. We're making best speed for Midway Naval Center."
"Affirmative, Akashi. I'll shadow your current course. Rampart over and out."
Here goes nothing.
===
Hopefully, this works out.
'Boy, you really do like playing with fire doncha?'
For all I know I'm about to walk into a trap. Maybe I was wrong to trust my drone and database, maybe I should've launched at these folks instead.
Maybe I should've just stayed quiet and let them die.
'Maybe.'
After all, there isn't any such thing as 'Midway Naval Center'. So what exactly is going on?
'Rampant worrying won't do me much good. Quick, think of something else!'
...uh.
'Nothin! Natch.' No thoughts, head empty.
...something on RADAR? Please?
'Nope. Nothing, nothing, nothing. Well, except for the enemy escorts over there, and they're running.' Just gotta settle in for the cruise with RADAR up and worry I guess.
Fuck.
=== Warships Do Their Best And Are Now Preparing, Please Wait Warmly... ===
"Chicago-san, watch your head!" I duck under the low doorframe just in time, sending a thankful look at Natori, who gives me a nod.
Eventually, we come to a halt,
There wasn't much to do but wait. When we'd arrived, a stretcher team crewed by various medical personnel kanmusu and human alike had rushed Hornet off.
Tenryuu was left to Akashi, alongside the rest of us, and so once we were all cleared and signed in, we filed off to the yard.
...well, I say yard, which probably puts images of a big open air affair up to mind.
Instead, it was this large well lit underground atrium, with a dozen doors around it like spokes in a bike wheel. Those lead into their own little rooms with three offshoots of their own.
The bay we were directed to wasn't that promising. A few smaller pools, only a few even filed with the light green liquid of a repair bath, and various scattered boxes of tools and spare parts.
Some blood in one corner makes it juuust that little bit ominous.
The fleet tender clapped her hands, gesturing to the two full pools. "Alright, Tenryuu first, then you Chicago."
Wait, me? "Hang on a second, the others are all hit worse-"
The frowns at me.
"How many fires?" W-well, that's different...!
She came closer, an accusing finger jabbing at my body. "These are deck hits from bombs, and you've got a few shell holes you're not telling me about aren't you?"
"Ow! Okay, okay, I'm a little worse for-" The brown haired ship grabs my face and brings me in until we're nose to nose.
"Listen. Here. You fucking stupid. American! I just lost almost everyone I cared about! I'm not going to have you die from something stupid because we didn't have the time for repairs!"
...oh. "O-okay, but aren't you taking this-"
One hand comes around to the back of my head and suddenly a set of lips are on mine?! "AHMH?!"
'W-wait, what-why?! What-'
Akashi pulls back, face red and angry. "Are all you Americans so infuriatingly willing to die?!"
Right. I should... I should say something. Uhm. Uhm. Uh...
Wow, Akashi's eyes are a neat golden color... Uh. Right! Words!
"Yess'm, getting in the bath now."
The repair ship's expression softens, and she seems to subside. "Good. The rest of you, come with me. I'll see about what I can do myself."
The others file out, one of them giving me a grin and finger guns before closing the door behind her. I'm almost sure that was one of the French cruisers, oh god almighty I'm not living this down am I?
The faint burble of the room keeps us company for a bit.
"...so you two fuckin or what?" I turn and spot a grinning one eyed light cruiser, looking at me expectantly.
Oh no... Tenryuu, why...?
END 1.2