A New Ally

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It's been a few days since we arrived in Royal Navy. Since then, we've driven the remaining Iron Blood forces out of allied waters and managed to resecure the supply lines between New York and Liverpool. Now, we're finally underway towards Iris Libre to break their blockade and relieve their dire situation with much-needed supplies. Vichya Dominion, perhaps thanks to the influence of Jean Bart, will be joining us in this endeavour having successfully broken away from Iron Blood. 

Dalian: I hope we won't have to stay in the desert too long.

Elizabeth: What are you talking about? We are ships. Why would we be in the desert?

Dalian: You don't plan on going ashore? Well, that's a shame.

Dalian continues teasing her as we continue towards our destination. It's nice to see them somewhat getting along now though I think it's largely in part to the conversation I had with Elizabeth during the flight to Eagle Union. Pre-flight Elizabeth certainly wouldn't entertain Dalian's antics. 

Hood seems to be much livelier as well. It's as though a weight has been lifted off her shoulders and it reflects, not just on her, but the Royal Navy as a whole. It makes me wonder why no one had sat down and spoken to her about her behaviour before now if they were all having issues with it. Even George, who was seemingly the only one who seemingly looked at her as nothing more than an equal, refrained from saying anything that might upset her.

Enterprise: We're approaching the rendevous to meet up with Jean for our joint mission. 

Me: Want me to send some planes to make sure all's clear?

Enterprise: Shouldn't have any issues. Best save all your energy for the upcoming fight as we won't be able to refuel for a while.

What a sneaky way of saying I should stay put because I eat too much. I consider sending out planes just to spite her but a ping from my radar reminds me that I don't exactly need my planes to spot approaching ships. Even with the limited range due to the lack of satellites in this world and me not having my planes deployed to extend my range, I'm still able to detect incoming ships at quite a decent distance. 

It's thanks to this that I can inform the other's that we're approaching our new ally's fleet. True to my word, minutes later, we're all face to face and heading towards the blockade together. Soon after, however, more pings warn me of a much more significant force approaching us. 

After warning everyone, we all move into battle formation as all carriers, myself included, launch our planes to prepare for an attack. The approaching force quickly arrives on the horizon and the battle begins but as our forces continue clashing at range, portals open in the sky behind us, letting out mass-production sirens. 

Dalian: They're trying to flank us! 

????: Hehe! Is that what's happening here? 

Turning to see who spoke reveals a girl I've never seen before.

Dalian fires at her but she easily dodges before firing back forcing Dalian back and away from Enterprise and me

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Dalian fires at her but she easily dodges before firing back forcing Dalian back and away from Enterprise and me. My planes, still occupied with fighting Iron Blood's approaching fleet and the mass-production siren, are unable to provide cover and I'm forced to take evasive action as she begins targeting my position. Launching my helicopters in response, they manage to land some hits but she's not slowed down by it and manages to successfully knock Hood and Warspite out of the fight.

Elizabeth, perhaps seeing her sister unconscious, charges and forces the intruder back behind siren lines but the arrival of Iron Blood's fleet in close quarters force her to give up the chase and return to the front lines. 

We're now completely surrounded and realising this, I decide that we need to just focus on breaking out rather than beating all our attackers at once. The others agree and begin targeting a single point. Initially, there's little success but eventually, we manage to break through and being flooding through the breach and back into the open sea.  

As I am passing through, however, the girl from before reappears and fires straight at me. Unable to really dodge her surprise attack, I try to minimize the damage by turning so that only my hand gets hit. The next few moments occur in a blur. My eyes are blinded by bright light, there are screams and the sounds of gunfire, there's maniacal laughter but more than all these overwhelming sights and sounds, there's pain. Barely registering that I am falling, I begin having flashbacks to my previous world as a carrier. Is this really my destiny? Am I bound to sink every time?

I lose consciousness. 

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