Summoning Japan: Flights of the Fancy

Chapter 12 - A Man's Flowery Road

As the firing of the Grade Atlastar was confirmed, Minilar gave the order. The crew literally executed the command with all their might. However, the massive hull of La Kasami could not easily change direction. The crew members spent what felt like seconds that stretched into minutes or even hours. Then a column of water rose—on the starboard side of La Kasami. The closest one was not even 100 meters away. The impact was tremendous, lifting the ship's stern and slamming it onto the lowered sea surface. Most of the crew members fell over as a result. It was on a completely different scale than before.

"Damage report!" Minilar yelled.

"We've lost steering!"

Everyone on the bridge couldn't believe their ears.

"Report again."

"We're losing control, the rudder won't respond!"

It was the kind of report no one wanted to hear second. The first one was... needless to say.

"This is the engine room. The engine is running out of control and we can't stop it!"

This was the second one as well. Even though combining the two was better than the first alone, it was only a matter of time.

The La Kasami had gone out of control. At this rate, she would run aground and strand on the shore. But before that, she would approach the Grade Atlastar. Best-case scenario, she would run aground; in a worst-case scenario, she would sink. It was almost the closest thing to the first kind of report.

"Don't give up! Do your best!"

Minilar raised his voice. As the captain, encouraging the crew was the only thing he could do. Perhaps, there might be a way to fix it. But the morale of the fleet commander was even higher.

"Main gun, prepare for firing. When closest to the Grade Atlastar, unleash a simultaneous barrage. Prepare the secondary guns too."

At Brendas' command, everyone's movement momentarily stopped. But they quickly resumed. They, who should have been in despair, were now faintly smiling. Because what else could they do? The La Kasami was running out of control at full speed. Lowering lifeboats was not an option. Jumping into the sea alone was also dangerous. If they couldn't get off the ship, they had no choice but to continue riding.

They were infected with madness called the spirit of navy personnel.

. . .

"We missed."

Bragston's muttering was heavy. The inability to rotate the turret meant that they couldn't align the aim, which was equivalent to being unable to fire. The morale of the crew inside the first main turret was starting to crumble. But Bragston held his ground. No, wait. Is it really impossible to align the aim? If the turret can't rotate, then rotate the ship. Normally, he couldn't interfere with maneuvering. But now...

"Report!"

One of the personnel who had gone under the turret returned.

"Have you figured out what caused the malfunction?" the chief gunnery officer asked.

"No, not yet, but..."

"Then find out as soon as possible."

"No, there's more important information than that, sir."

Bragston was brought back from his thoughts to reality.

"There's a large crack in the turret ring."

Everyone, including Flagston, doubted the report. The chief gunnery officer spoke for everyone.