Azur Lane: Savior

"We're entering it's territory." Avrora announced as they passed another Siren's ship beside them.

"...It's too quiet here." South Dakota commented. "There's nothing wrong with my SK-2 radar but... it's eerie to see our enemy in front of us, not doing anything. The battlefield is too quiet it's giving me goosebump."

"It's because we're at safe distance~" Pamiat replied with a cheery tone.

"Even so..." The battleship quietly murmured. "We can't get too lax here."

Saratoga looked around with astonished face. "Woah... these Sirens must be sleeping or something. My recon planes are flying over them without drawing a response..."

Hornet chimed in. "Hehe~ If that's the case, let's settle this with some ultra long-range bombing!" 

"Long-range attacks from carriers, huh... We've never tried something like that before..." Avrora replied, she gazed at Volga behind her. "Maybe we could try it sometimes..."

"Good idea, Hornet!" Saratoga begin to wave her staff around. "Sister Sara will launch bombers squadron, go!"

Following Saratoga's order, a formation of bombers set off and flew towards the enemy. Even without fighter escort, it flew safely over the dormant Siren's fleet and dropped bombs directly.

"Hehehe~ that will be a direct hit to them, did you see that Commander." Saratoga turned to the command ship.

"Ah shit, Saratoga. I think we've just awoken the stronghold." Greynar warned the fleets from inside the command ship, he looked at the radar that was displayed, and over hundreds of red dot started to appear with beeping of the apperance of enemy as the sound of machinary turning on.

"Huh?" Saratoga looked back at the ice structure.

Just as Saratoga began to cheer, the stronghold's defenses came to life. The bombs that had been dropped were repelled by shields that materialized out of nowhere, and Saratoga's bombers were mercilessly mowed down by withering anti-air fire. The Siren fleets begin to turn like a dormant volcano that activated again, the Sirens within the area turned on simultaneously with a buzzing noises. The ice structure that looks like stronghold also began to glow blue.

"...Fuck." Greynar silently cursed.

Saratoga was in panic. "Eh…what?! What?!" 

"It seems that they will respond to threatening targets. The fortress's anti-aircraft firepower is much stronger than expected, and there is no way to take shortcuts." South Dakota mentioned.

"Good, im afraid that this operation will be a bit boring but it seems that they have some dishes for us to take on!" Hornet joined with a grin.

"Be careful, everyone! We're about to enter their defensive perimeter!" Pamiat began to charge forward as the enemy started to aim their turret at them.

South Dakota was the first one to take the Sirens fleet head on, she engaged in the battle with several humanoid-type Siren as they passed through their defense line. The Clevelands circled around the command ship to defend Greynar from the attack while Avrora and Pamiat took the role of the vanguard for the fleet to move forward. Hornet and Volga dealt with the aircraft that was coming to them. Surprisingly, the battle ended fast as soon it started. 

"Huh... that's weird." Cleveland commented as she kicked off some of the Siren debris. "Why are their defense is a bit..."

"A bit weak?" Pamiat replied, she grinned after saying it. "You'll see what will happen after that, those Sirens are merciless towards us as we go deeper."

"So this is just the opening of the act." South Dakota glanced at the destroyed Siren fleets. 

"Indeed, we don't know what the Sirens are thinking. During our last operation to take this stronghold alone, we met with an overwhelming defense which we realized that this stronghold contain something and we need another ally to help us taking it down." Avrora explained with a solemn voice.

"Did the command knew about this?" Greynar asked with a curiosity.

"Yes," Avrora nodded. "They were the one who asked us to gain help from Eagle Union because of the overwhelming stronghold's power." 

"In other words, we've truly never breakthrough their defense?!" South Dakota said with a surprised look.

"Unfortunately," Pamiat answered. "If it were that easy we wouldn't need for a joint operation."

"Come to think of it everyone..." Hornet suddenly speak to gain their attention. "These whole thingies about the defense getting stronger the deeper we are, it sounds like—"

"Entering the dungeon of a demon king's castle?" The Commander chuckled. "You could say like that, i guess."

Cleveland grinned in excitement. "Sounds quite fun to do a dungeon raid to the demon king's room. All right! Let's slay the demon lord and go home with a victory!" 

The fleets making their way to the stronghold bit by bit, they noticed a change on the Siren's behavior as they got deeper inside. Though, they managed to deal with it without a sweat. The Commander looked around cautiously as he glanced at Volga who was silent the entire time during the operation. He switched his communication channel to a private one. 

"Hey there, feeling nervous?" The Commander asked her.

"C-commander!?" The carrier was surprised to hear his voice but she gave him a small smile. "I'm just doing fine, i just feel a bit chilly." 

Greynar raised his brow. "That's rare coming from you, are you feeling uncomfortable because of the stronghold?"

Volga shook her head. "Mmm.... No, i don't think it's because of the stronghold. It's just ever since we came to the Bering Sea, i'm getting these chilling sensation out of nowhere."

He immediately furrowed his brow. "Okay, we'll investigate this after we deal with the stronghold, sounds good?"

"Okay~ that's a promise then." Volga smiled softly hearing him comforting her.

After that, he ended the communication channel and sighed on his command chair. "Something is wrong with her, i hope it wasn't what im thinking."

Under the powerful naval guns and aerial firepower, the fleet is advancing step by step towards the location of the Siren's stronghold. Though the Sirens' counterattacks slowly grow stronger, they still pose no actual threat to the Eagle Union's ships. Pamiat was grinning left and right ever since they were going deeper. They were very close to the stronghold in front of them, it was a miracle for them who have never going deeper into the enemy's line.

"Wow, we've made some astonishing progress. When we first decided to investigate the stronghold, we never got this close." Pamiat commented at their current state of operation.

"I'm guessing that's because the Sirens here are considerably tougher to deal with." South Dakota smiled as she said it. "But we still have the upper hand when it comes to firepower and durability. Let our fleet handle things from here on out."

"Ooh~ is that an invitation for us to have you as the vanguard of our formation?" Pamiat smirked jokingly. "I guess it couldn't be helped because of our old self isn't suitable for head-on combat."

"It's all because of our main fleets couldn't be withdrawn from the Arctic frontline. I apologize again for the current unconventional situation for us." Avrora sighed in dejection.

Saratoga went to her and pat her on the back. "No, it's okay, we're all allies. The Northern Parliament has been long dealing with the Siren ever since the invasion, you've done enough contribution for it. Right now, let us handle it for the sake of clearing out more Siren fleets."

"Okay if you say so... Thank you Saratoga." Avrora gave her a kind smile.

"No problem, besides, after the appearance of the Crown singularity, you can no longer to force your main fleet to back off from the front line. So it's okay to take it a bit easy and rely on us." Saratoga winked at the old cruiser.

"Thank you for your understanding, then we'll take the rear formation to escort the command ship and the attack on the front will be left to you."

As she said that, Avrora and Pamiat exchanged formation with the Clevelands, now Volga, Avrora, and Pamiat was the one escorting the command ship meanwhile the Eagle Union fleet was acting as their shield in the front. The fleet's progress was pretty smooth on their way, slowly but surely making their way to the stronghold. As they reached a bit thousand meters, Columbia starting to see something that glow on the distance.

"Hey everyone," She called the fleets through the communication. "What is that thing that's glowing purple?" She pointed at something on the far distance, there was several dots that was glowing purple.

"Nope, don't know..." Montplier answered. "The command never provided us any information about something that glows purple."

Saratoga turned to Avrora. "You know what is that?"

Avrora shrugged in confusion. "I also never seen it, unfortunately."

"That's a new Sirens type?" Pamiat raised one of her brows. "Hey SoDa, can you try to attack it?"

"So...Da?" South Dakota was confused about her new nickname that Pamiat gave, but she shrugged it off. "I can try but no promise."

After she said that, the battleship went to charge the purple Siren alone. She dodged the salvo that fired from other Siren ships as she was getting nearer to the purple Siren.

"South Dakota dodge to the left!" Greynar's voice suddenly ringed on her ear with a warning.

The battleship, without any hesitation dodged to the left as a laser bullet suddenly flew towards her location. South Dakota was surprised, the explosion from the bullet knocked her back, she glanced at the Siren with a bit of anger.

"Now you've done it." South Dakota said. "There will be no second mistake, Commander, what's the type of their weapon?"

"It's a bit bigger than 406mm gun but it sort of recharging again, the turret is a bit off considering it charge off a laser salvo. Be careful, they're fast enough for naked eye to see normally. Their range probably a bit farther than the usual and their accuracy is on the point." He explained.

"That's enough for me to do what i will do." South Dakota thanked the Commander silently as she blitz through the Siren fleets again.

The purple Siren's turret is targetting the battleship as it tried to look for an opening to shoot. South Dakota realized that she won't be able to get close if she didn't use the Sirens around her to be a metal meat shield against the purple Siren. She jumped toward one of the Siren ship, she was on top of the Siren to bait the purple Siren to shoot.

In a second, the purple Siren fired their gun to blast her and the Siren ship. South Dakota jumped towards the Siren as she used the explosion of the ship to knock her above the ground and flung her to the purple Siren. The battleship aimed her gun and used her shield to block in case of any anti-air attack from the purple Siren.

"Got you." She stared at the Siren's turret and used her shield to disable the weapon.

With the turret rendered useless, the brown-skinned girl silently huffed. Suddenly the purple glow begin to emit a bright light, the Commander warned her to jump from the Siren ship immediately. South Dakota without a second thought, jumped from the ship, she was surprised that the purple Siren ship exploded upon knowing that their turret is now broken. 

"Commander..." South Dakota reported to him.

"Yeah, i can see it, they are aware of what we're trying to do." Greynar answered with a grim face. "And we've got more enemy on us, prepare to have another wave of fight."

As he said it, everyone could see that more and more purple ships began to appear. Saratoga expression turned serious as soon she saw the light purples from the stronghold direction. South Dakota gripped her shield tightly on her arms. And Greynar silently prayed for the best to them.

Soon enough, all the turrets are aiming at them. Saratoga was the first one to react as she used one of mass-produced ship they brought to be their shield and controlled her fighter squadron to protect them from the air attack from the distance. The petite girl asked Cleveland's group to prepare their anti-air in case she missed some of the enemy plane.

Volga also reacted to protect the command ship, she used her plane to thwart out the enemy plane coming from their behind. Avrora also noticed that there are submarine that was circling them, she and Pamiat immediately get to work by changing their gear into ASW and prepared to use it anytime. 

The Commander ordered everyone to stay aware of their surroundings, he noticed several suicide ships coming to their direction at high-speed. South Dakota noticed the ships that was coming and shot her anchor to pull the suicide ships to her while she defended the explosion using her shield. The battleship glared at the Sirens and shoot more salvo to the purple ships.

"Damn it, these Sirens are not what i expect." Hornet cursed under her breath.

"Hold onto your position, we can go defend or we are going to retreat." The Commander said.

Cleveland asked him. "Commander, you don't happen to have a plan, do you?" She turned her head to him while keeping awareness of her surrounding.

"We have made some preparations before the battle and have issued reinforcement orders to all nearby bases. There should be no problem with reinforcement and logistical support for a period of time." Avrora chimed in. "However... if we can't achieve a substantial breakthrough, we will be the first to be worn down in the war of attrition with the Sirens." She gritted her teeth.

"That, or we could retreat beyond the Sirens' range for a while. Then we'd just need to take out the few that come chasing us." Pamiat joined in while shooting on some destroyers coming at them.

"Whichever you deem the best Commander, we'll need your approval right now." Avrora desperately said.

Greynar pondered a bit, he asked the cruiser girl. "Your reinforcements, when are they coming?" 

"They told us they're making their way here as fast as they can." She paused, then continued. "But that's not to say they'll be here any second now."

The Commander gritted his teeth. "Then I guess retreating to a safer area is our only choice."

"Everyone look out! There's a humanoid Siren coming in!" Cleveland warned the fleets. 

"Huh?! What's that glow?" Pamiat curiously turned her head while looking straight to the humanoid ship that emits a blue glow. "...дерьмо! Commander!! It's coming behind you...!!!!"

As soon Pamiat screamed to Greynar, South Dakota rushed in front of her and put her shield towards the Siren. A burst of entwining flame and electricity rushed towards Pamiat and the command ship. South Dakota was directly hit by the jolt of electricity, the flame subside but her rigging seemed not to work.

"Pamiat, are you okay?" South Dakota asked in concern.

Pamiat coughed as she recovered from the attack. "Sorry... I'm okay now, how are you SoDa?" She was worried with the battleship in front of her.

"It's fine, but my turret and radar seemed to be temporarily disabled." South Dakota waved her arm to see any injury. "My armour is scratched, but the attack caused a power failure on my rigging." 

"That humanoid Siren... That was an Executor right?" Avrora suspiciously asked. "Why do they have those powerful attacks?"

"Just one attack... It caused a battleship to have an electrical system to fail..." Saratoga muttered silently.

"It would seem so. I was never expecting to encounter a weapon that targets our electronics, not in these waters..." Avrora wryly smiled, "They certainly has changed their method of attack, they aren't what we used to deal with." 

"Ah this shucks so bad..." Montplier commented.

"That beam of light... could it be lightning...? Could this be the Siren's secret weapon testing ground!?" Hornet chimed in with a surprised expression. "Are they seriously gonna treat us like a lab rat?!"

"Commander, it seems that the Executor might be a new version of Siren." Avrora turned to Greynar. "What do you suggest us? Fight or run?"

The Commander gulped his saliva, whether if they run now, they will still be chased. He had no choice to pick the first option, Greynar then ordered his fleets to do a counterattack. "Prepare to rain Sirens with the bombers, Saratoga, Volga!" 

Both of the girls launched their planes to fight off the enemy. Volga's fighter was escorting Saratoga's bomber to the upgraded Executor, the bombers went on top of the Siren and dropped the bomb to test the Siren's durability. The bomb exploded onto its head making a deafening explosion. 

South Dakota, not giving the Siren to breathe, readied her turret that just came back online from the temporary stun and shot her fire. South Dakota's volleys land a direct hit on the Siren wielding the strange new weapon while also tearing the enemy line to shreds. Fire and smoke envelop the waters where the Sirens stood. 

Before they could grasp if the humanoid Siren was taken out, the water suddenly turned violent, Greynar's command ship was rocking hard as he hold onto the handrail, bracing for something to come. Beneath the water, suddenly a giant iceberg emerged from below, separating the fleets into two. Greynar slipped from where he stood as the ship violently shaking due to the graze from the tip of the iceberg, his head accidentally hits a handrail and it made him gone unconscious.

'...mmander, ...nder!!!" The last thing he saw was someone's hand reaching out to him.