"Commander, we will arrive at our destination in 2 hours."

"Thank you, Helena. Have a quick rest back there."

Helena took a seat behind me on the couch because she was tired from the sailing and wanted to conserve energy.

Washington and North Carolina also boarded my ship. Before I let them board, I asked how we would deal with the defense while no one was looking, but they smiled at each other and transformed their rigging into the real counterparts of each ship.

They said they could control the ship to follow my command ship, which was a cool thing that was never mentioned in the game or any other kind of media, or maybe it just how this world works.

"Well, this isn't the game, but the real thing. Somehow this will be a normal occurrence you will see every day."

"Commander, have we arrived yet?" Washington yawned, waking up from her nap.

"We're almost at our designated destination near the border. Proceed with the plan."

Washington formed a grin on her face and left the bridge. North Carolina was on the front deck of the command ship, nodded to Washington, and transformed their rigging back. They jumped from the ship and formed a formation in front of me.

"Commander, will this really work?" Helena asked.

"I trust our repair ship."

Helena closed her eyes and summoned her rigging.

"I will follow behind you, Commander. Stay safe." Helena closed the bridge's door and jumped from the ship to follow me.

The comms buzzed. "Commander, we located an island surrounded by the Sirens. I think it's a branch of the base."

"All ships prepare for battle. Aim for the carrier first."

I disconnected the communicator and turned on the radio transmitter, setting the frequency to the highest so that the Siren could take notice of it.

'Here they come'

The fleets started to move like an animal that noticed its prey. The carriers launched aircraft and the destroyer made its way towards us.

"Hahaha! Now it's time for me to release this stress I've been accumulating! Come here, you Siren bastards!" Washington opened fire.

"Washington, remember, don’t be overconfident. Focus on winning," North Carolina warned Washington.

"I know, sister."

Both sisters dominated the whole area in a single moment, with me on the backline protecting them from aircraft assault. Helena also joined the fight and took down an entire submarine fleet all by herself while distracting them from hitting me. It's all thanks to her improvised SG radar by Akashi.

"Commander, we're done here. Let's go to the next location." Helena contacted me through comms.

"Wait, Helena, let's take the resources they have in the base." I stopped Helena.

"Commander, it's too risky. They might send reinforcements to this place if we don't hurry."

"I promise it will be a short one, please." I begged Helena to let me loot the base.

Helena sighed. "Can't be helped if you're that stubborn, Commander. I will go on a lookout."

I thanked Helena and went deep into the facility. Washington insisted on following me to assist in searching for useful resources, but in reality, I know that she only came to fight inside the base.

We walked through the long narrow corridor while looking left and right. Many kinds of Siren tech were lying around waiting to be used. Thank god that we subdued it early before anything worse could happen.

"Commander, this place feels weird. These Siren technologies giving me chills." Washington gave a remark about the eerie atmosphere inside the base.

"I could see that. There is also a technology to create mass-produced Siren. Perhaps this is a facility originally for research?"

"It might be one." Washington nodded.

"Let's go further. We don't have much time to think about this." I increased my pace throughout the corridor.

I walked to another section of the base and smelled something really stinky. It was not a very fun experience.

"Ugh, what the fuck is this smell?" I exclaimed while holding my breath.

"I could also smell something stinky." Washington covered her nose with a mask.

"Where did you get that mask?"

"Saratoga gave me this. I don't know why she gave me it though. I have some spares for you, Commander." Washington handed me the spare mask.

"That's for sure her prank. Because of Washington's personality that loves fighting, she gave her such a simple item to confuse her."

We had walked a long way into the base, but it was in this section where the smell got really bad. I looked around every corner of each room and found the source of the bad smell. It was a nightmarish sight to see, and I had to look away from it.

"These are dried bloodstains, and in the center of it are human skeletons." The aura around Washington suddenly changed. She was really angry.

"What kind of fucked-up thing did they do to involve a child in this experiment? No, to be precise, what is this base originally for? A kid to be involved with their parent?" My expression turned grim.

The adult skeleton was hugging a small skeleton. It looked like they had been shot by a gun or something similar. There were still clothes intact on them, but they were torn to bits. I wanted to give them a proper burial, but we had no time for it.

"Washington, do you have anything to disintegrate their corpses?"

"No, I don't have anything, but my rigging could make them turn into ash."

"...Please do. I would like to cremate their corpses."

Washington nodded, and I stepped out of the room. I felt a huge blast inside the room, it was enough to blow metal to bits. I clasped my hands to pray for them to find peace in the afterlife and have a chance to be reunited again. Washington also did the same. Following my lead, we continued to explore.

We entered a random section that led us to the main wing of the base. It was a long, dark corridor, but something was different.

"Commander, look out!"

Washington grabbed me by the collar and yanked me behind her. I heard multiple shots in front of me, and they almost grazed my hair. Washington shielded me by deploying her gun to become a shield and counterattacked using her other gun to explode the automatic trap.

"Shit, one of my guns was broken by that turret. Commander, are you okay?"

"I'm okay. More importantly, why is there a trap in this corridor?"

"If a trap is necessary, it means...."

"Sounds like we hit the jackpot." Washington smirked. "I'll be our shield. Commander, stay behind me and watch our back." Washington exchanged positions and walked towards the end of the corridor.

At the end of the corridor, we were greeted by a door reinforced with steel. It looked like it needed a code to open.

"Commander, stay back. I will blast it."

"Wait, no--"

Washington proceeded to destroy the vault. I scolded Washington for not following my order. She apologized and walked off like nothing had ever happened.

Before I took my first step, I noticed something near the vault. It was a picture of a dad and daughter happily fishing on the shore. And in the background, the very thing I didn't want to see again, the White Tower.

"Commander? What are you doing?" Washington's voice snapped me back.

"That's why us shipgirls are created, to be at war with the Siren because they can't be reasoned with." replied Washington.

"I wish we could end the war sooner, but this is only the prologue to the war." I sighed.

"We just have to keep walking, the path with thorns are the only path you could walk on. There is no alternative, Commander." Washington smiled bitterly.

I nodded. "You're right, this journey won't be an easy path." 

The communicator suddenly buzzed. "Commander! You have to get out of the base and leave immediately!" Helena's panicked voice was heard by Washington, and she halted her step.

"What is it!? What happened!? Tell me right now!" I asked her.

"The base... Sakura Empire has attacked it!" replied Helena.