Azur Lane: Dragon Rising

Ch25: Military Exercise

It's the next day and we're gathered on the dock in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. Everyone's here, from Liang's father to the officials that were present during the meeting last night, to seemingly hundreds of thousands of civilians gathered to watch their supreme leader board the "Mighty Zhejiang" for what's a historic occasion.

He puts on quite the show for them too, before inviting us on board. There's a skeleton crew present to give off the impression that the ship is indeed being operated by sailors as we begin to get underway. He's with me on the deck waving, when he leans in and whispers in my ear that now would be a great time to prove myself.

Still maintaining my outward smile, I decide to have a little fun knowing full well that since they are now on board my ship, they are all really in my hands. He's asked for a demonstration after all.

The ship starts slowly, seemingly following the towboats pulling it out of the harbour but the minute we clear the dock and have made it a safe distance from prying eyes, I kick it up a notch and the ship jerks forward, quickly accelerating to its max speed of 40 knots.

He's relatively unphased by this but it's only the first part of my demonstration. Once we arrive at our destination, everyone evacuates my ship leaving just Liang and me on board. I tell her she needs to go with them but she refuses to leave my side and everyone seemingly agrees, perhaps not wanting to risk me perhaps turning on them. Though, in all honesty, I'm uncertain of how they expect Liang to be able to stop me in such an eventuality. Still, with them now all clear of my deck, I initiate the next stage of my plan.

They are watching from the flight deck of Jiangsu, my sister carrier, when I transform. My ship, as always, explodes into a seemingly endless flow of cubes but this time, I immediately notice that their colour has changed. Indeed, now they are all black and yellow. Still, with the process already active, I don't get much time to really register their look before it's completed and I am standing on the water in my first form, ship nowhere to be seen.

Liang, who had been standing on my deck, falls but I easily catch her, now able to move even faster than the 40 knots my ship could previously achieve. I've missed this form. With Liang still in my arms, I launch myself from the water and land on the deck of Jiangsu, handing her over before jumping overboard. Now free to move around without restrictions, I blast off making quick runs around the fleet as I begin my demonstration.

Showing unrivalled speed and agility, I switch to my KANSEN form, summoning my ship's armaments before launching my jets, making sure they all get a good look at how they are being launched. Still, even I am surprised by the sheer power of said launches. It's nothing like I remember and for the first few tries, it takes everything I have to continue standing. What's more, instead of the usual 4 aircraft launch at a time, I'm now launching 8 with ease. Thanks to this, I have my entire Air Wing up and in the air far quicker than they could ever possibly launch otherwise. This display shocks everyone present and by the time I am back on deck, returning to my 1st form, they're utterly lost for words.

????: Such power! We can't afford for her to fall into enemy hands. I say we keep her secret, hidden away unless necessary.

????: I agree that we should try to keep her secret but disagree with locking her away. She should be leading the charge.

????: I agree, to some extent but as the Premier's daughter made clear last night, we don't have the technology required to replace any of her parts should she get damaged.

????: Damaged? Have you seen how fast she moved? What modern-day weapon do you know of that would be able to hit such a small fast-moving target on the water no less?

Leader: I see you've all changed your minds on the impossible. Here I thought all of this was merely mythical thinking, or so you said. That being said, not once have I heard any of you ask what she wants. Have you thought of the fact that locking her away or forcing her to fight could very well turn our greatest asset into our most deadly enemy?

I'm taken aback by his words, not because of what he's saying but because he's saying it in front of me. He continues his dramatic speech for a while before turning back towards Liang and me.

Leader: Now then, Zhejiang. I can't deny what my own eyes have seen but I'd like to see more of what you're capable of. Would you be willing to participate in a military exercise right here and now? We'll be firing live missiles and weaponry at you so if you're not comfortable with it, feel free to let me know.

Even though he's offering me an encouraging and kind smile, I can sense the pressure behind it and know full well that I don't really have a choice in the matter. Even if he accepts that I am not ready now, he'll still pursue it at a later date so I might as well get it over with. Accepting, I position myself in the midst of the fleet once more. All the weapons get directed at me and for a brief moment, there's dead silence as I await the countdown to the start of the exercise but it never comes. Instead, gunfire opens,

Caught out by the sudden onslaught, I fail to avoid the initial barrage but my AA systems still manage to take down all incoming missiles. Still, when the smoke clears, I'm standing, perfectly unscathed. I can't tell whether this result shocks them more than it shocks me but I don't stick around long to find out, easily using my speed to evade the torpedoes sent my way before preventing the same torpedoes from hitting nearby ships instead. The mock battle continues for some time, all the while my aircraft circle overhead, still having not yet landed after being launched earlier but not taking part in the "battle."

Sometime later, under the evening sun, the exercise concludes and I am utterly worn out by the constant pushing. I've not sustained any damages despite occasionally getting hit and have managed to simulate the complete destruction of the entire fleet. It's quite an impressive achievement and it shows on everyone's faces when I land back on Jiangsu after retrieving the last of my sortied aircraft.

Leader: It's a shame that we won't be able to station troops on your ship but...do you think you could still maintain the same functionality with the rest of the aircraft that were originally meant to be apart of your Air Wing?

Me: I'm not sure. I've never tried using any other aircraft but those already with me.

Leader: I see. After watching your performance, I'll freely admit that you are our best ship but there are still some improvements that I think you'll like. For starters, your HQ-10s would benefit from being replaced with HQ-11s that can target both air and surface targets instead of merely being an anti-ship weapon. Then, we'd also replace your J-16s with J-31s and a few H-12 bombers.

Me: Bombers? On a carrier?

Leader: We'll go over it later, if you're interested.

Me: Interested in-

Liang: He's offering you the chance to be recommissioned into the navy, officially. You'd still remain a secret for the most part but it'll be complete with a ceremony and all.

Leader: Indeed, and, thanks to your human form. We could even install you as the commander of the vessel thus giving the public a valid reason for your presence on the ship and why you were seen with navy persoonel when it was recovered.

Liang: It's not a perfect plan but it's a start. We can iron out the details later. So, what do you say? Work together once more?