Commander's Rounds

Entry 90: A Reason to Celebrate

"Why are you here?"

Biloxi and Sheffield encountered the one person they wanted to hear that question from the least.

They had managed to escape resorting to violence so far. Sheffield had brought some of Edinburgh's gold and used it to bribe some of the local officials to be less tight-lipped about where the stolen cargo was being moved, and based on that they were able to trace it all the way back to where the Rebel Kansen were hiding out. They had built a nice little concealed base for themselves down one of the narrower waterways, as one of the advantages of Kansen was that they could navigate waterways that actual large vessels couldn't even dream of trying- one could run a Kansen down the Colorado rapids.

The two of them had approached by land to use the clutter as over as they took pictures of the base, and then made their escape to the coast, deciding it would be safer not to literally broadcast their findings.

And it was just when they were some miles offshore that they had a chance encounter, and the two of them were, over some small distance, staring down the gun barrels of Princess Royal. "I'm not going to ask twice. You're lucky I'm even asking once."

Biloxi spoke up. "Azur Lane regularly conducts business with the Dragon Empery and the Sakura Empire. I don't see what's so strange about it."

Princess Royal looked at the two of them. "So you are from Azur Lane. Don't think we're fools, we know that after repelling our attacks you'd be around soon enough to search for us."

Sheffield's eyes narrowed. "You have no intention of letting us go."

The battlecruiser took a sip from her teacup. "There's no reason to trust the words of a peasant and a servant, especially those on a human's leash. There are only two truths at play here." She put her teacup away, and locked her guns in position. "The first is that you can't escape, and the second is that you can't beat me."

Biloxi nodded. "No questions asked?"

Princess Royal picked up a Parlie that was balanced on her rigging, and ate it before speaking again. "I find it a brutish process best left to Erin, and she'll have plenty to say once I drag your uncouth hulls over to her. And don't think you can get away just because you're more modern. Delaware has been quite resourceful when it comes to upgrading our machinery."

Sheffield hmmed. "That's it then?"

"No." She put away her plate. "Now I'm finished, and not coincidentally, so are you."

And then gunfire erupted from all parties involved, as every weapon each of the Kansen had was turned on their target of choice.

Princess Royal shielded herself from the incessant stream of fire from Biloxi and Sheffield, with Biloxi even turning her considerable array of anti-aircraft guns on the battlecruiser. there was little immediate effect, however, meaning that she had the time to line up a shot with her heavy guns against her opponents while her secondaries replied in kind. Sheffield barely escaped a shot from Princess Royal's heavy guns, but the threat of those meant that she couldn't entirely focus on offense.

Biloxi was finding out that Princess Royal's armor couldn't be penetrated at longer ranges, so she had to close in, maybe to point-blank range if necessary to get a good shot into something vulnerable. She relied on the distraction that Sheffield provided to try and close in, but she faced a storm of fire from what felt like a wall of casemates. She did her best to escape what she could, but any hit from her was one she didn't want. She tried to cover her advance with her own fire, but damned her own luck that she was fighting one of the few early Royal battlecruisers that had decent protection.