A deceptive encounter.

It wasn't long after the threesome that Enterprise announced over the intercom that everyone were to prepare themselves for battle, as their part of the **** fleet soon reached its destination, with a far more undesirable development at hand.

"Is that...a mist?" Cleveland, a Light Cruiser, had asked, looking rather worried. "But there weren't any reports of any kind of mist from any of the previous satellite scans! What's going on?"

"Did it just develop now? Or over the course of a few hours...?" Massachusetts asked Enterprise with an unsure expression. "If we go in now...we'll risk getting ambushed from every side..."

"Doesn't it look like it's spreading out more and more...?" Another Battleship, Alabama, asked. "It's not exactly noticeable...but it seems like it's growing."

"...Let me contact the other two groups... Hornet, Formidable, Illustrious, send out scout planes and recon the area, see if you can spot anything in there, if at all possible..." Enterprise spoke to you and your fellow Aircraft Carriers, to which you all nodded, summoning some of your aircraft and sending them over the mist.

The next few hours would be a game of waiting as Enterprise contacted the rest of the **** Fleet as well as home base for satellite support. Meanwhile, a few of the destroyers were sent out to check whether the mist itself was expanding.

***

"We're approaching the designated hot zone...everyone, keep your eyes peeled...I've already radioed the other parts of the **** fleet and we've received confirmed reports of multiple wreckages of warships, as well as bodies of many fallen sailors, have been found from both Bismarck and Queen Elizabeth's sides on the outskirts of this recently formed mist... The cause of **** for most was from sustained artillery fire and energy-based weaponry destroying their bodies, basically, Siren attacks." Enterprise warned everyone. "...Any and all attempts to look within the mist itself proves to be impossible...Satellites cannot penetrate the mist, neither could any of our aircraft, drones, nor submarines with their scanners...all of which were either destroyed moments after, or their data was corrupted before they could transmit anything useful. Additionally, the mist itself seems to be expanding at a slow but steady rate... Regardless, we must press on...No matter what...this threat cannot be allowed to grow any more than it has..." She explained simply.

"From here on out, we're in hostile territory, keep radio silence, talking to an absolute bare minimum, and use hand signals for most of your communication. Scanners will be allowed, however...though I doubt it would help...we can at least try. Now, unless you're face to face with the enemy, this will be the set protocol, understood?" After receiving a variety of audible confirmations, she nodded. "Good, let's go. Stick as close together as you can...It would be devastating to lose any of you the moment we enter..." With that, everyone set off onto the water's surface, the area beyond cloaked in a thick mist.

By now, everyone had switched to their riggings with their guns and, seeing as using their ship forms against the likes of the Sirens of the caliber and numbers they were facing would guarantee an early **** for anyone foolish enough to try. Immediately the problems began to show themselves, not in the form of the Sirens themselves, but with the mist. Clearly it was unnatural, the mist not only made for poor visibility, but also affected their scanners, causing them to go haywire and constantly give out false signals. This made quite a few of the girls quite nervous as their reliance on their normally effective tech proved to now be a source of stress and jumpiness. Enterprise fixed this quickly by having everyone switch off their scanners as everyone could already see the devastation the Sirens have left behind. The bodies of human sailors and the twisted metallic husks of the ships these men and women once served on, now strewn about the water's surface. The stench and sight was unbearable for some of the younger-looking ship girls, many looking to puke right now as they desperately began to stay very close together to comfort and hold one another as they traveled. The older looking ship girls and those whose eyes held the look of veterans simply steeled themselves for the coming bloodbath, only sparing a saddened glance at the carnage before continuing to look forward deeper.

***

"...Terrible..." You flinched as you went over a few bodies, trying your best not to disturb them nor to notice them.

"War is always terrible, Formidable..." Enterprise's sister, Hornet, shrugged as she quietly responded to your words. "That's why we're here..."

'Well...I went here by my own choice...I could have easily have stayed...' You thought. "Mmm...I know that much..." Still, you found yourself agreeing, as ship girls were originally made with the sole intent of waging and fighting wars in service to their nations and factions.

"Quiet..." Enterprise lightly nudged you two as all of you continued to move along the water's surface, which even that was getting incredibly hard to see. "Remember...unless it's necessary..." She reminded you both.

You nodded as you continued to witness the viscera and body parts floating around. 'It's times like these where I remember that...compared to when it was just a game...this is probably a far more normal sight in reality for a good number of these girls...' You thought about this and felt sorry for all the battles these girls must have gone through, seeing potential human and ship girl friends lying around in their own blood and guts as they battled their enemies ferociously.

'This is honestly a horrifying scenario...extremely limited visibility, communications, and movement...and the wreckages of the ships sticking out...they should have sunk because of how deep the water is and their overall weight too...but it looks like they're frozen in place...this is bad...Sirens could be hiding behind any one of those things...' You couldn't help but think and let your imagination run wild with how things are going to go. The silence didn't help as your paranoia was slowly rising. Judging by what limited sight you had, you could tell you weren't alone in that state, most of the other ship girls held similarly growing levels of paranoia, eyes flitting left to right, clenched fists, shallow and quick breathing, and general signs of stress.

'Where...where could they be...? How long have we actually been traveling in here...? When will they strike...?' You wondered as time passed so slowly in your mind.

Your question would be answered as a shimmering glow emanated from a distance, drawing the attention of practically everyone immediately.

"What...the hell is that...?!" Hornet asked, alarmed at how something could be so clearly visible, even within such a thick mist, seeing it starting to get larger and brighter.

"....!" Enterprise's eyes were confused for only a fraction of a second before widening in a panic as she reactivated her radio, shouting to everyone else through it. "SCATTER AND THEN REFORM INTO A DEFENSIVE FORMATION!!! ENEMY ATTACK!!!"

Everyone immediately reactivated their radios as well, quickly getting breaking out of their fixated stares and scattering every which way as a beam of crackling energy struck one of the positions they were previously in.

"Requesting permission to return fire!" Massachusetts's voice came clearly through the radio.

"Granted, light that bastard up!" Enterprise responded with her own voice.

As Enterprise's part of the **** Fleet began taking up their defensive positions, having herself and her fellow capital ships as well as Vestal, at the center of the formation, Massachusetts signaled their beginning of the struggle by aiming all nine of her 16-inch batteries towards the source of the beam before the booming sounds of her cannon fire echoed through the mist. It must have worked as whatever launched that attack had either retreated or had been annihilated with no further signs of enemy fire. Everyone continued to get in position, using their mounted searchlights and radios to signal their positions as the heavy and light cruisers formed around the capital ships in a circular formation, the destroyers arranging another circle around them to complete the defense.

However, the moment they completed organizing themselves, the waters around them felt like it became alive as the sounds of multiple unknown entities seemed to be coming from everywhere around them.

"Have you warned Queen Elizabeth and Bismarck's groups?" Massachusetts asked Enterprise tersely.

"...I can't get in contact with them on any frequency...assume our signals are being intercepted for now..." Enterprise shook her head as she explained it to Massachusetts.

"...Enterprise..." You heard South Dakota address Enterprise quietly, her guns already loaded to fire out.

"Wait...not yet..." Enterprise replied stoically, her eyes trying to scan her surroundings, but failing to do so successfully.

"They're all around us..." You yourself let out worriedly. "Our planes won't be of much use here either..."

"If anything, we'll simply use them to draw fire from the enemy at the very least..." Illustrious spoke softly as she looked around as well, hearing more and more sounds around you all.

"Orders?" Cleveland's voice could be heard through the radio.

"Everyone is to stand their ground right now, nobody moves, nobody fires, just wait." Enterprise replied back calmly as she set her radio to alert everyone.

The sounds of movement soon stopped. The next moment of silence, however, was broken by multiple sounds of cannon fire as the mist seemed to light up around them extensively, followed by the sight of multiple shells rapidly ascending then descending towards them.

"...South Dakota! Now!" Enterprise shouted at the Battleship as the shells continued to head at them.

"Right!" South Dakota responded back curtly as she seemed to focus for a moment before shouting, "THIS IS YOUR STOP!" Not a second too soon, multiple large, shield-shaped barriers of energy materialized around the formation just as the shells reached them, slamming into the barriers with incredible speed and ****, the barriers themselves shimmering as they absorbed and blocked each and every shot. "I can't hold this for long with the amount of hits the barriers are taking!!! Make this opportunity count!" She spoke through gritted teeth.

"Everyone, return fire!" Enterprise shouted as the barrage of enemy fire continued to stream forward. "Aim for where the shots are coming from!" As she barked her orders out, the counter attack began as you all threw everything you had at the hidden enemy.

Torpedoes, your allies' cannon fire, even you and your fellow ACs limitedly useful aircraft were sent in every direction the shells came from as you all did your best to take the pressure off of South Dakota's barriers and weaken the opposing ****. Initially, success was shown as the number of shots from within the fog decreased dramatically, giving South Dakota time to recharge the severely diminished barriers to more stable levels, only for them to come plummeting down as the enemy began shelling your area once again. You all retaliated fiercely, taking fire and hiding behind the barriers, though some shots managed to break through and hit the surrounding waters around you all, before returning it back tenfold. Volley after volley, barrage after barrage, you and the other side kept firing at one another, even as the barriers broke down, even as the enemy shells began to make their marks, grazing or sometimes scoring hits on your allies, you all fought your hardest to defend from all sides.

By this point, you all need to begin shifting away from defense to offense with Enterprise's guidance this moment as being motionless like sitting ducks wouldn't amount to victory whatsoever. You, alongside everyone would have to break out of this perceived encirclement you found yourselves in.

"Enterprise, another one down!" Baltimore announced as she brought in another heavily injured Destroyer, whose group had taken the most damage thus far with this being the seventh one of 11, being located on the outer ring of the formation, alongside two of the Light Cruisers and one of the Heavy Cruisers, bringing the total casualty rate to ten of the total 32.

"Miss Enterprise, we can't keep sitting here waiting to die! We're already taking too many casualties! We need to go on the attack, now!" Alabama yelled out from nearby as she ducked to avoid getting a shell to the face.

"Enty...she's right!" Your group's medical ship, Vestal, concurred, nodding with desperation as she tried to help the injured Destroyer, patching up what she could to help ease the smaller girl's suffering. "We either break out of here or risk total annihilation!"

"...Damnit..." Enterprise said through her breath and turned to speak into her radio. "All ship girls form on me! We're going to charge into the mist! Full speed!" After that, the remaining ship girls that could fight formed beside Enterprise as the situation continued to deteriorate as the enemy must have realized the significant decrease in firepower your group had, their own firing rate increasing tremendously as the number of shells hitting your positions became more and more numerous.

"All ships assembled!" You reported to Enterprise.

"Alright! Then let's get ourselves and the injured out of here!" Enterprise stated, beginning to charge at what she said would be the weakest point due to it containing the least amount of shells being fired at you all. "GO! PROTECT THE INJURED AND BREAK THROUGH THEIR WEAKEST POINT!!!" She ordered, charging ahead, followed by you and the other capital ships.

"YES MA'AM!" Everyone else responded back immediately as they charged alongside you all, some slowing down to help carry the injured and ****.

The enemy eventually took notice of what you were all doing and began to concentrate their fire more and more, however, it was too little too late for them as you all entered the part of the mist where you believed the enemy was at their weakest, all of you simply firing forward with whatever you all had left in stock as you all saw and shot at the Siren-shaped silhouettes of the enemy. Seeing them go down, you all began to cheer, the relief spreading through everyone as they now believed they could fight their way out of here.

You managed to bring one down by practically sending your planes on a kamikaze run and overwhelming your foe. 'Yes! My first kill~!' You felt rather giddy at this as you watched your opponent go down. 'I'll have a moment to spare, maybe I could grab something from her, if possible.' You figured that since she was in front of you anyways, you might as well take a peek at who you were shooting at, maybe you'd be able to grab something that could be worth bringing back to base for study. As you approached the silhouette, you began to see the shape of the silhouette shifting the closer you got. "Hm?" You soon actually got to your downed opponent and a look of utter shock and horror crossed your face.

"What...? Wait...What's going on..?" You stopped dead in your tracks as you looked down at the "Siren" you just killed. At the same time you heard Enterprise frantically shouting over the radio.

"STOP! EVERYONE STOP!!! STOP FIRING! STOP EVERYTHING! WE'RE FIRING ON FRIENDLIES!!! I REPEAT, STOP!!!" Was all that was being heard over the radio.

"Oh no...Oh god no..." You were still in shock as you just stared at the body of one the Iron Blood girls, now floating lifelessly, her body suffering from significant damage with whole chunks simply torn away and blood gushing out of the open holes, courtesy of your fighter planes committing their kamikaze ****. "What...What did I just do...?"

***

"Well, that was hilarious~ Haha~" Purifier clapped, her sadistic grin never leaving her face as she watched the whole event from afar. "Tester and Observer definitely would have loved to see this carnage unfold~ Too bad for them that I was the one sent here to experiment and play with those gals~" She then stood up and stretched. "Haa~ Alright~ I'm sure they'd been given enough of a playful scare with each other~ It's time to show and give them a REAL scare~" She snapped her fingers, which made the entire mist disappear as she raced off to greet the **** Fleet herself.