>>6033441“The madman, how is he still alive after that?” His voice rings clear again over the tightbeam, “Took a near-hit. Superficial damage only. Over.” The enemy was nowhere near as lucky: Sparrow-3 has snapped in half from one of Jean-Pierre's torpedoes while Sparrow-4 is getting a pounding from the railguns. Your and the Shishi's combined PD net has taken out a handful of fish, but there is no time for more. Moynihan breaks up his call-outs with a scream, “Brace for impact.”
You land face-down on the cool metal floor. Every light briefly went dark before returning to their usual selves. The last voice you want to hear blares over the PA, “Oblique hit. Deck 5-10 to 5-14 spaced. Lost 2 secondary lasers.” Goldsmith finishes his report, “Explosion contained by bulkheads. Sending team to assess the situation. Over and out.” You make a reminder to have Silas go easy on Achebe after this. The Sparrow captain has intentionally set his torpedoes to low speed.
With the getting hit part of the way, now it's time for you to return the favour. This close, no need to bother with walking in the shells or leading the target. Elysium can just boresight all the way through. First target, the only destroyer which has not launch its payload. “Albatross-1 down, no torpedoes detected.” With help from the Shishi, Armitage also quickly finishes off Sparrow-4. Quivers now empty, the last 2 destroyers have no choice but to retreat as fast as they can.
"Let them run. Regroup on me. O-" Okwonko interrupts him, “Get back here. Fight's not over yet.” The 70,000 tons of death known as Snapdragon-2 is bearing down on him, only backing down whenever the Yushi makes a mock torpedo run. “Heavy resistance. Requesting immediate assistance. Over.” Liu ignores Ienaga to go after the crippled Snapdragon-1 instead.
<span class="mu-s">You will never make it in time to save Okwonko, unless Ienaga risks a real torpedo attack. But doing so will leave the Yushi open to reprisal. He is unlikely to respond to Jean-Pierre's orders, but maybe you can sway him...</span>
>"Ienaga, the Occupation fails because it divides itself. We must not repeat their mistakes.">"Ienaga, remembers the spoils from last time? You can have all of it, and more.">"Ienaga, you are a samurai, right? Look within yourself, and fight for what is right.">"Ienaga, do what you must. I never expect everyone to make it out alive anyway.">Write-in 