The sea churned violently as the battle intensified, shells tearing through the air in fiery streaks. The Eagle Union fleet was holding its ground, but the Sakura Empire and Iron Blood forces pressed hard. Prinz Eugen, still mistaken for Bismarck, danced through the chaos, shrugging off near-misses while her Sakura escorts rained fire on the beleaguered fleet.

  Then, through the static-ced comms, hope arrived.

  “This is Enterprise. We’re in range. Engaging.”

  A sudden shadow swept over the ocean as a fresh wave of aircraft streaked in from the west, their insignias unmistakable. F4F Wildcats, SBD Dauntless dive bombers, and TBF Avengers filled the skies like a vengeful storm. At the same time, the distant silhouettes of Clevend, Laffey, and Javelin emerged from the waves, charging into the fray with guns bzing.

  Clevend’s voice crackled over the radio, filled with determination. “Hang in there, Hornet! The cavalry’s here!”

  Hornet let out a relieved breath but kept her focus sharp. “Took you long enough! We’re dealing with two Sakura heavies and what we thought was Bismarck—but it’s Eugen!”

  Enterprise’s reply was cold, professional. “Understood. Adjusting strategy. Clevend, Laffey, Javelin—engage those cruisers. I’ll handle the skies.”

  Clevend surged ahead, her main batteries roaring. The light cruiser’s rapid-firing guns sent a relentless stream of shells toward the nearest Sakura Empire ship, forcing it to break formation. “You want a brawl?! Come and get it!”

  Laffey and Javelin moved in next, weaving between incoming fire.

  Laffey, calm despite the chaos, let her twin guns loose, her 127mm rounds smming into one of the Sakura cruisers’ fnks. “Laffey is ready to fight… let’s finish this quickly so I can go back to napping.”

  Javelin, ever the energetic one, zipped through the battle with near-impossible agility, her torpedoes already in the water before the enemy could react. “Javelin, charging in! Take this!”

  As the destroyers engaged, Enterprise’s presence in the battle became undeniable.

  The legendary carrier raised a hand, her bow pulsing with azure energy as her aircraft screamed toward their targets.

  “Hornet, you’re not fighting alone anymore. Let’s show them why the Eagle Union rules the skies.”

  With that, the dive bombers tipped forward, their bombs primed to strike.

  The true battle had only just begun.

  ==========

  Georgia sat with her arms crossed, back pressed against the cool steel of her towering superstructure. The soft hum of her rigging’s electronics filled the air as she watched the battle unfold through the grainy feed of her MQ-4C Triton drone.

  The high-altitude recon drone well above at what these normal props could fly gave her a god’s-eye view of the engagement, the chaotic fshes of gunfire illuminating the swirling ocean. Even at this distance, she could see the brutal exchange of fire between the Eagle Union fleet and the Prinz Eugen trading broadsides with Pennsylvania While her Sakura Empire allies worked at closing the distance.

  The small silhouettes of pnes could be seen like shadows racing across the water approaching the ship girls only for massive clouds of water to erupt. Enterprise’s air strike was underway. Anti-aircraft fire erupted from below, bck puffs of fk filling the sky in a desperate attempt to swat them down before they could release their deadly cargo.

  "Come on, Big E, show ‘em how it’s done,” Georgia murmured, fingers tightening into a fist as she watched the fight intently sitting near her VLS systems wondering if she needed to unch an Harpoon.

  Then another set of bombs struck true. Explosions blossomed across the deck of the Sakura heavy cruiser, sending fire and smoke spewing into the sky. The second cruiser tried to evade, its hull tilting hard as it maneuvered, but another wave of bombs followed, hammering its stern.

  Georgia's comms crackled to life.

  "This is Enterprise—direct hits on both targets. Damage assessment ongoing. Clevend, status?"

  Clevend’s voice came through, tense but focused. "Still engaging! These guys don’t go down easy!"

  Georgia smirked, adjusting the drone’s camera to focus on the main threat—Prinz Eugen.

  Despite the Eagle Union’s firepower, the Iron Blood cruiser was proving to be a nightmare to pin down. Her sleek hull weaved effortlessly through the bombardment, dodging torpedoes, slipping past shells, and retaliating with pinpoint accuracy.

  Then the siren ships started arriving.

  Georgia’s smirk faded instantly.

  Her drone feed flickered as the ocean beyond the main engagement began to distort—shimmering waves twisting unnaturally, warping the light like a mirage.

  And then, one by one, they emerged.

  Siren warships.

  Dark, alien hulls parted the mist, their sleek, mechanical forms bristling with ominous, pulsating energy. Their presence alone sent a cold chill through the battlefield. They weren’t just another faction in this war—they were predators. And now, they were here.

  Georgia’s fingers clenched into fists.

  "Hornet! We've got Siren contacts! Multiple!" Helen’s voice crackles over the radio.

  Enterprise’s voice cut in, steady but urgent. "Numbers?"

  Georgia swept the drone’s camera across the battlefield. The ships were menacing—their dark metal gleaming under the setting sun. The unnatural glow of its weapons hummed ominously, casting an eerie violet hue over the water. Behind it, at least two dozen more followed, their sleek hulls slicing through the waves.

  Georgia took a breath as she knew Helen’s radar was probably over whelmed. "At least 24 All either heavy cruisers or Dreadnought csses."

  “Well girls, It looks like mission failure, I’ll Sta-” Hornet starts only for Georgia to call.

  “Engaging Hostiles, broadcast across all radiowaves.”HEY PRINZ HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A FRITZ X V2?” Take cover girls” Georgia announces as her VLS tubes open and the Triton locks her targets.

  “FIRE!” Georgia shouts aloud from her deck as nearly 38 Harpoon missiles take flight in quick succesion.

  ===

  Clevend hear Georgia’s command to take cover only for her radar to ping alot of incoming fast and low.

  Then

  The air howled.

  Clevend barely had time to react as the first missile roared overhead, a white-hot streak against the darkening sky. Then another. And another. Dozens.

  The roar of Georgia’s Harpoons was like the wrath of a storm—a wall of destruction screaming toward the Siren fleet.

  Clevend instinctively ducked, her rigging’s sensors bring warnings in her ears as the missiles passed just above her head. The shockwave from their sheer velocity sent ripples across the water like one of those oxygen torps that sakura liked using, Yet the fmes instead were kicking up sea spray that misted behind the fast moving rockets.

  She looked up just in time to see the first impact.

  The lead Siren dreadnought tried to react, its eerie violet-lit hull shifting as its shielding activated—but it was too te.

  The first missile hit dead center.

  A second ter, three more impacted in quick succession.

  For a heartbeat, nothing happened—then, the world erupted.

  A column of fire and water shot skyward, engulfing the Siren warship in a violent explosion. It was every ship’s worst nightmare a Magazine explosion.

  The shockwave smmed into Clevend like a freight train, nearly knocking her off bance. She steadied herself, eyes wide as she watched the dreadnought’s hull buckle and rip apart from the sheer force of the explosion.

  “Holy hell—” Clevend breathed.

  But the storm wasn’t over.

  More Harpoons found their marks.

  Explosions rippled across the enemy formation, blooming like fiery flowers in the encroaching twilight. **A second Siren cruiser took three direct hits to its fnk—**detonations ripping through its armor like paper. Its energy shielding flickered violently before failing altogether, leaving it wide open for the next volley.

  "Damn, Georgia!” Clevend shouts in excitement and terror.