1. Vince

"What's going on?!" Hearing the sound of gunfire, I run out onto the bridge.

"Captain?" Rumolt looks surprised.

"I heard an explosion from the strait. Is it an enemy attack?"

"No, no one has reported anything to me."

"Declare a search operation quickly."

"Understood."

The search team launches a huge observational telescope toward the entrance to the strait. In turn, I also hastily pull out a pair of binoculars. At this point, the field of view only shows clouds of smoke, which could only be seen by search lights of the Reparation class ships.

"A surprise attack by Disith! Many ships detected!"

"All first class ships, prepare for battle. Report anything to the front lines!"

"Roger!"

There's no time to wonder about it. We should immediately intercept the enemy fleet. Otherwise we - no, Anatoray, will not survive.

"How long until we depart?"

"Right now, half the crew has disembarked. How much time it will take to gather the entire team is unknown."

Rumolt estimates, but I can't wait for that long. Judging by the sudden attack occurring, it is likely that this battle will be against the rules. If so, even the smallest delay will be the difference between life and death.

"We will not wait. We'll set off with the crew that's on board at this moment."

"Understood. Then, it should take five minutes..."

"Too slow! Make it three minutes."

"Roger. To the entire crew - the ship is heading out in three minutes."

Rumolt's loud voice is heard throughout the ship. And his following order further increases the tension.

"Tell the engine room to fully open the throttle."

"But there have been no reports from the Guild..."

Does Rumolt still believe this battle will be conducted according to the rules of the Guild? On the other hand, the duty of an adjutant is to consider all possible future actions. Indeed ... if the Guild is now on the enemy's side, then we won't be able to use our Claudia unit!

"Is the unit running?"

"Yes. There have been no messages from the engine room technicians."

Hearing this, I sighed with relief. At least this ship would be under our control. Whether more will will be seen in the course of events.

"That's good. Regardless of whether it was just from the enemy or an official warning about the battle, we are now going to personally get confirmation."

"One minute until departure."

"Have you told the rest of the ships?"

"Yes, but more than half of them are lacking their captains."

"What about the commander?"

"I haven't made contact with him."

Messengers start to return one after the next, reporting the status situation on the other ships. That's right, some of the crews are on leave and taking a day off. The situation is worse than we thought.

"Okay. Since the locations of our commander isn't known, authority and control of each ship will be temporarily transferred to the senior officers. Give those orders to the fleet and prepare for departure."

"But, Captain..."

Rumolt seems to be concerned about whether or not this will bring trouble to the commander. No, rather, he's concerned that we've found ourselves in an awkward position. But if Anatoray is destroyed, there'd be nobody to play these "political games" anymore anyway.

"Damn it! The battle is starting now!"

The signal to prepare for battle immediately is sent to all of the ships. However, only two ships respond to it. The rest haven't even begun to start their engines. Based on the information received, it could take half a day. Thinking about it, the two ships that are in full combat readiness will be enough.

"Ready for takeoff!"

Finally. There's no more excuses for any further delay.

"Great. Vindictive - full speed ahead!"

"Full speed ahead!" calls the navigator in a hurried run to the bridge. Excellent, there's a fighting spirit.

"Send Disith a warning to stop the movement of their fleet."

"Sending signal 'L'."

At first glance, there seems to be no time to comply with such formalities. But if we open fire on the Disith fleet, the Guild may withdraw our Claudia units. Therefore, the signal we send isn't only to inform the enemy of our intentions.



2. Disith Fleet

Being in the floodlights and under artillery fire, the Disith fleet is confused. They receive the signaling message from the enemy. It's even more discouraging.

"Commander Horthy, signal ahead."

"Read it."

"Signal 'L', the order to cease all movements."

"So it seems we've been outwitted? Damn ... all ships - open fire!"

Horthy is being ordered to immediately surrender. Anatoray ships calculated Disith's attack, and are currently in front and behind the fleet, now squeezing them in a vise. There's only one way out of this trap - to head forward and break through at full power.

"Should we report this to the Guild?" The adjutant asks quickly.

"The enemy fleet has already opened fire, and there's still no reaction? Certainly the Guild has already been informed about what is happening here."

"Prepare for shelling!"

The report on the readiness of artillery comes immediately, and Horthy quickly gives the order to attack the enemy.

"Third squadron, your goal - taking the enemy fleet at the rear. Other ships - attack the front."

The Disith ships at the rear would strike at the ten enemy ships located behind the fleet. At the same time, the other ships would fire at the enemy ships ahead. From a strategic point of view, this should be the correct solution. But the design of the Disith ships does not allow them to fire on targets that are behind them. So in order to do this, they have to turn around around while the ship was completely unprotected. And is it possible to make a complete turn with the ships in time?

At this point, the first squadron opens fire.



3. Vince

"The fleet has opened fire!"

"Enemy attacking!"

"Enemy attacking!"

The fiery flashes from the exploding shells of the enemy fleet reflect in Vincent's eyes. The enemy began attacking, so to further wait now makes no sense. All we can do now is destroy the enemy, or allow them to destroy our ships. There is no other choice.

"All cannons, get ready to open fire."

"Yes, all cannons - begin preparations!"

The next barrage of shells nearly touch the Vindictive, just passing it by and falling to the ground. Despite the fact that several buildings were destroyed, the ship was not damaged. When all cannons are ready to fire, we can launch a counterattack. But it will be difficult to penetrate the armor of the enemy ships at this distance. In addition, we're behind the enemy in terms of numbers, and the only ship ready to attack is mine.

Hopefully the sound of gunfire awakened the other crews, which are now in port. The artillery on the ground has a higher power than the weapons on the ship. If we manage to use it, we'll be able to hold out for much longer. And maybe, if all goes as it should, the other ships will join us in time. Until that time where we can properly fight, it all depends on us.



4. Sophia

"Captain, shots have rang out from the from the Anatoraian front."

Among the ships of the enemy fleet, we can see the flames from explosions. Cannons of such a size are mounted onto battleships, therefore this wasn't an attack from the ground artillery. So we found the ship that was able to repel the enemy.

"Is it the enemy?"

"No, the attacks are from the port. A battleship, I suppose..."

When I report the results of the observation, Alex laughs lightly.

"Have Anatoray's 'suitable' captains been found?"

Indeed, the fact that the bedrock of the Anatoray army found a captain was pretty amazing. Moreover, despite the fact that the Guild had no warning of the impending attack, the ship was ready for battle. They must have been trained with great care and on a regular basis. And though there is always a likelihood to meet such a ship, they're usually not able to immediately start a counterattack. If there is a captain who is capable of such things, Marius would have gone to great lengths to get him into their ranks. But does Alex think so, or is this the usual interest from him? ... yet, it clearly interests him more than the battle itself.

Just getting an interesting report, I relay it to Alex.

"Apparently so. I've just received a report from the vanship team: one ship is heading towards the enemy fleet."

The enemy fleet has about thirty ships. To stand in their path alone, you need to be either a fool, or both possessing a good understanding of the situation as well as a lot of courage. I wonder, which of the two is this? In any case, human resources are especially needed now in Anatoray. What is needed are people who can think not only of their own welfare, but who are also able to act for the benefit of the people in this country.

"We need to help them."

"Yes."

Alex is actually agreeing, or did he suddenly discover the spirit of chivalry? Usually he is not one who hurries to help others. But no ... in the past, he was always ready to help a brave ally.

"Okay. Steer left, we'll approach the rear of the Disith fleet. Then deploy the stern weapons toward the enemy."

"Steering left."

Second office Campbell announces the order to Alex, turning the steering wheel to the left with force. Thus the Silvana heavily tilts to the side and starts moving to the left. Once the ship is set at 30 degrees, Campbell turns the wheel to the right. If it's not done at that angle, the turn will come out too strong due to the inertia.

"Reverse turn!"

Campbell watches the mark on the scale of the wheel with a concentrated expression. Once the mark hits 35 degrees, he once again turns the wheel to the left.

"Central alignment!"

"Very good. All weapons, target in the direction of the enemy."

"Roger!" answers senior gunner Greyhound, not hiding the joy in his voice.

Prior to this battle, we had to shoot on fixed targets. Apparently, it was too boring. But now that we're together with Alex, it seems we will have a new approach to the art of artillery fire. Perhaps we can try it all at once? We have that feeling as though we have a new toy to play with.

Now that I think about it, the Silvana using the surrounding turmoil could freely penetrate the rear of the enemy fleet. Upon following the right instructions, we turn, and strike at the enemy ships, opening fire with all of our guns. As expected, a few ships receive fatal blows, but the Silvana attacking while simultaneously turning is contributing additional confusion to the Disith fleet. The center of their structure begins to become disturbed, and ships begin to collide with one another.

Going up behind the enemy, Campbell again turns the wheel. All this time, the ship hasn't stopped firing. Judging from the trajectory of shooting, it seems that our allied Anatoray ship has caught onto our tactic and is now moving in the opposite direction from us. Despite the fact that our two ships are a considerable distance apart, the approximate distance can be detected by the explosive outbursts of fire and the reports of the vanship team. At this time, Campbell reports:

"Rear weapons aimed at the enemy."

"Very good. Armor-piercing guns, fire," Alex orders.

"Armor-piercing guns, fire!"

The back armor of the Silvana opens and from out of it extends the launcher. Then with trails of white, cloudy smoke, twenty-four rockets fire in the direction of the enemy fleet.



5. Vince

"Large explosion behind enemy lines!"

At that very moment, there is a roar. Searchlights that had been concentrated at one point start to scatter and illuminate the surrounding area. The light fell onto one unit that rose into the sky.

"It seems like a pretty big hit from a ship."

"It was taken down with a single blow. What kind of weapon is that?"

"It's at the rear of the ship. What is it doing here?"

"Interesting ... Okay, now the priority is to directly strike at the enemy."

"Roger!"

While the enemy is confused, we need to take advantage of this and head as close to the fleet as possible. We move through the enemy fleet at full speed, all the whole waging a continuous fire on the ships to the left and right of us.

"Transmition signal behind us."

"Is it from the ground?"

"Yes. From the commanders of the artillery on the ground. Transmission: 'Specify the target'."

Finally. Has the military at the port also started to move? The artillery on the ground can be used as support.

"Okay. Let's fire on the right side of the enemy fleet."

"Roger! Transmit the signals."

"Left rudder, full speed!"

"Helm to port!"

The ship leans heavily to the left. Then, upon passing the left side of the enemy, opens fire. Pieces of the ships burst and fly away from the powerful blows of the shells. Was this coming as a surprise for the enemy? No sooner did I think that when suddenly strong tremors from a powerful strike rings through the entire ship.

"Damage report!"

"Contact with the rear of the infantry deck. The first and second levels of the soldier chambers are damaged."

"The mast has been completely shot down."

"Cannons have no damage."

"No disruptions to the operations of the ship."

Reports are received from all departments, but apparently we can continue to fight. It's also good that the infantry survived.

"Ground artillery, fire!"

The response comes from the observation team immediately. At long last, the comrades begin to conduct well-coordinated work. And at that same moment, an incredible fire power, superior to any ship of the line hits the right side of the enemy fleet. Although the aim of the shot was not specifically the Disith ships due to the fact that the enemy ships are all located quite close to each other, Claudia units begin to separate from the damaged ships, one after the other.

"Excellent, now move away from the position of the enemy fleet!"

"Roger!"

Passing the left side of the enemy, we continue to fire to clear the way. At the same time, we continue to point out the location of enemy ships to our allies. By the time we succeed leaving the enemy fleet, two Anatorian ships position themselves to the left of us.

Still, other ships that were not ready to depart now had some significant damage. Despite the fact that to a certain extent we managed to shake the enemy forces, many ships continue to attack the military port. The rays of searchlights are now halved in size. At this point, a small object flew through one of the beams.

"This is..."

The first mate adjusts his small round glasses, looking at it.

"It seems to be ... a vanship."

"Yes, without a doubt, it's a vanship!"

The vanship flies by the military port and heads just into the center of the enemy fleet. Then, it starts to fly between the Disith ships, releasing a smokescreen. This leads to the ships beginning to lose sight of each other. On our end everything can still be seen, but on the other, visibility drops to almost zero. The vanship then flies to the end of the fleet and disappears from sight.

And within a few moments, more than 20 Claudia units could be seen raising into the sky.

There is still only the one allied ship, but what kind of weapon did it use to attack the enemy fleet? Judging by the military capabilities of the ship, their advantage is clearly not limited to just one weapon.



6. Disith Fleet

"Damage report," Horthy requests with a weakness in his voice.

From all sides, their numbers are reduced due to the damage of the ships.

"The third squadron has been destroyed. 12 ships were hit, 13 have gone down. There are seven ships together with this one that can continue to battle."

"Okay. Relay this to all remaining ships: We are to gather all of our forces and head to Otranto's port."

They still have quite a bit of time to turn the tide. But until then, how long can this ship hold out? This unspoken question is in the expressions of the crew members.

"Yes, but..."

"If we push through and mix in with the enemy ships, the ships behind us will not be able to shoot. Meanwhile, we'll capture the enemy's military port and make it a base for our ships."

With giving that order, Horthy puts everything on the line with this opportunity. Numerically, the Disith fleet still outnumbers the enemy ships. If he succeeds in making an emergency landing at the port and capturing Anatorian soldiers, their chances of survival will increase significantly.

"That's right. All ships - at the ready!"

"All ships - at the ready!"

The damaged ships will serve as bait while they will move at the maximum speed possible. Of those damaged ships, one of them will move closer to the enemy and be followed by the others. And at the same time, the other ships will move full speed and make their way to the military port. Despite the opposition of Anatoray, a successful attack will now be decided by one single moment. And that moment is approaching.



7. Vince

Together with the two ships that arrived to aid us, we approach the enemy and begin to attack from the flank, but suddenly our targets began to pick up speed, as if dragging us along. Our ships continued to move forward together, despite the damage taken. And at that moment, I realize the enemy's true intention.

"I have a feeling they're going to break into the port."

"Really? ... They decided to go for a head-on attack?"

Rumolt pales. Once they land on the surface, repelling them back out of it will be a difficult task. And if they suddenly seize the military port, that means we'll have to deal with the ground artillery soon.

"Damn, they're fast! We have to intercept them!"

At the port, the enemy apparently drew the attention of the people there, so they begin to direct the artillery guns at this new target. However, due to the unexpected speed of the enemy, the shells ricochet off the targets. Despite the fact that these ships were not designed for prolonged movement at maximum speed, when they had their periodic accelerations they were not so easy to catch.



8. Sophia

The enemy fleet is now reduced by half. And the damage to most of the remaining ships still make them unsuitable for proper navigation. The distance to the military port is now less than 15 miles. Just when we were about to destroy the remainder of the Disith ships, they rapidly continued to move toward the port. The allied ships ahead of us are trying to prevent them from doing so, but it's unlikely that they'll catch up to them. Are we going to keep going?

"Can you handle it, senior gunner?"

At this moment we hear the calm voice of Alex. After a moment of silence muffled laughter can be heard from Greyhound. It signaled an agreement.

"Absolutely."

"Good. Once you complete preparation, open fire."

"Leave it to me!"



9. Vince

"It's impossible to catch up!"

Right before our eyes, the enemy fleet is rapidly approaching the port. We continue to fire, but do not get any results.

"Damn it! Our fire isn't enough."

"The further they get away from us, the greater reduction in efficiency."

Two Disith ships at the front of the group have been destroyed, yet the other ships behind them do not stop moving, even while shrouded in clouds of smoke. If this keeps up and we can't stop them, they will soon invade the Anatorian port. And in that case, the anti-aircraft artillery will no longer be of help.

"Will we make it, or not?"

At that moment, arrows begin to fall from the sky with a huge boom. About half of them reach their goal, hitting the ships of the enemy fleet with explosive flames. Are these cannon projectiles? But from where? Could it really be from the ship that helped attack the enemy fleet and is now far behind us? The distance from here to that ship has to be about 14 miles. Are there projectiles capable of hitting their targets from such a large distance? Not to mention, instead of flying horizontally, the shells literally fell from the sky. I have never heard of that sort of attack before.

As I think that, the enemy ships are once again seized with an explosion of flames. And this time almost all of the shells reach their targets, hitting the enemy fleet. I continue to stare, and when the shelling resumes a third time, dozens of arrows sink ships. Only unlike the last two times, they no longer cause fires on the surface of the ships, but simply pierce right through them.

At the heart of the enemy fleet comes a powerful explosion.



<— Chapter 2 | Epilogue —>