sakura empires unfinished monster

Empire Strikes Back

(If you know the reference, enjoy it)

With her eyes closed hakuryuu meditated, during the trip she had done her best to fix her mental wellbeing to the point she had forced the sirens control off of her mind, no longer suffering from the nightmares at last. Able to sleep better, she could feel her full strength returning; thus allowing her to become fully integrated with her new ship. However.. Something was still bothering her. "Tsk. Stupid sirens what is the purpose for us allying with them it's only going to bring our end not our future we're just sailing to our own destruction or at best a puppet" pinching the bridge of her nose she stared out the window as she sipped her sake. To occupy herself, she spent time reading through the reports she had received from both recon flights and local reports from Rabaul. It was in this time that one report almost caused her to very nearly cough up her drink when she skimed over the eagle union landing at Guadalcanal and take over of the airfield known as Henderson Field now. With this new realisation striking her, she immediately sprang to her feet.

Moving over to the radio she would contact the rest of her fleet with a calm but determined attitude "Yukikaze, Agano return to the fleet from your patrol, Hiei quicken your refueling process we will chart a course to square B6 north east of Guadalcanal where we will confirm the enemy presence and strike them hard and fast. Ryujo, Tone I need you aboard my ship for strategy" putting her radio down she started prepping her planes in her hangars modified J5N torpedo bombers had their bomb bays fitted with torpedoes while her D4Y dive bombers were being fitted with their AP 500kg bombs. Reppu fighters were being armed and fueled. A similar story was happening in the hangars of Ryujo. All strike planes  were being made ready for their mission. Soon enough, the 2 would come aboard walking along the side as 12 Reppus barreled off the main deck of Hakuryuu to reinforce the CAP, bringing it up to 12 Reppus and 6 Zeros. Arriving to the bridge, the thunderous roar of engines was still ringing in their ears. Tone: "You needed us hakuryuu?" Her voice was a reassuring peace of mind to the fleet carrier. In the time she had  to work & socialise with her fleet she had formed an inseparable bond with them.

"Yes, I take it you've also read the reports. Eagle union are putting the clamps down on us after our major defeat at midway that doesn't mean we give up. We'll need recon to see what we're dealing with. Tone, I'll be counting on you for that with your floatplanes. Here's my plan once we know what we're dealing with me and Ryujo will launch a massed air strike with most of our strike craft I know its a risky gamble but we can always resupply at Rabaul that gap is rather small so we can make good use of our bombers and target their transports without those; eagle unions invasion will inevitably fail we can deal with them another time" scanning the map Ryujo would look over the reports once more before speaking up. Ryujo: "Maybe we should change the plan a bit eagle union carriers are most likely going to be around maybe even some Royal Navy carriers if we expend most of our force against the transports and get discovered we will be in danger of being attacked and sunk ourselves."

Sitting down hakuryuu would pour all 3 of them some sake. "You're right. Thank you Ryujo for your council. Tone? What do you think we should do instead." The comment made the light carrier smile. Ryujo: [You really are different from the other fleet carriers] gently sipping her drink both herself and hakuryuu would listen to the heavy cruisers plan. Tone: "In my opinion, we should perhaps do a modified plan you had hakuryuu. Instead of using most of your aircraft you could supplimenting some aircraft from Rabaul in a timed combined air strike so both of you don't have to use as many aircraft while the G4Ms target the transports both of you can focus on the warships. Hiei could be detached at night to reinforce the surface assets at Rabaul and could do a night strike and bombardment while the carriers are focused on us the next morning. Though you'll have to provide air cover for the retreat, that's the only downside to that. In addition, the mass produced models of the sirens would provide some extra firepower and most likely a distraction to cover the retreating force."

Once she was done talking, she was greeting by ecstatic clapping from Ryujo and a slight smile from Hakuryuu. "Tone, are you sure you weren't supposed to be a carrier because that was a master plan." Gaining a small bit of laughter from the heavy cruiser Tone covered mouth. Tone: "I'm certain I'm heavy cruiser through and through." The comment alone made all 3 share a good laugh. Ryujo: "Whatever you say, Commander Tone." Snickering at the comment, she made; Tone would tackle her, tickling her. Tone: "Ryujo you take that back" bursting into high pitched laughter she squirmed trying to get out of the tickles. Watching from the side hakuryuu had a full smile [you girls have no idea how greatful I am to have you all. You taught me about comradery and friendship and there isn't anything I'd ever trade it for.] Drawing her attention away from the small ball of chaos in the room she would focus on her alert saying all planes were fueled and armed.

Staring up the clock she had noticed it already had been 2 hours Hiei was already refuelled and Agano + Yukikaze linked up with the fleet 45 minutes ago all ships were now sailing at 15 knots to their marked destination. Contacting Rabaul she waited patiently as she soon got an answer. ??: "Hello? This is Chokai go ahead." After getting a reply she flicked the encryption over to another up to date one before continuing. "Chokai this is Hakuryuu we need your aircraft to strike azur lane transports in a combined air strike we are also planning to have Hiei do a night action I'm asking for your help to aid Hiei we can provide air cover for your retreat will you help us" pausing temporarily Chokai gripped the microphone closer as she thought long and hard. Chokai: [come on Cho what would your admiral say about you if you didn't he was always a fighter and I would be letting not only myself but him down too.] When hearing her name again she snapped out of her thought and flicked the mic to answer again. Chokai: "Yes myself and cruiser division 6 will join our banner to yours."

An audible sigh of relief washed over hakuryuu as she laid out the timing of the attack while stressing the importance of this on the heavy cruiser before she turned off the radio. [Now all the pieces of the puzzle is in place it is only now a matter of time and to see what will happen] clutching her pendant she muttered a few words to herself before staring out the window at her deck where multiple torpedo bombers, dive bombers and fighters lined the deck getting their engines warmed up, and with that sight both carriers steered into the wind. Having waited another 20 minutes The order was given and dozens of aircraft were given one simple order..."LAUNCH!"

(Right that does it for this chapter guys hope you enjoyed it all hope your all ready because next chapter is gonna be a blast. Pun intended cya all hope you enjoyed)