After yesterday’s meeting, I thought it may be a good idea to get a gauge on the plagued ship's effectiveness.

Various choices would come to fleet composition and a bad fleet makeup would be disastrous.

If their ships sink after a few holes under the waterline, torpedo spam would be the way, if they can dodge or pre-detonate the torpedoes somehow then having lots of shells rain down would be a choice, so cruisers will be focused.

Iif their guns aren't good enough then battleships and if a pre dreadnought’s gun can’t somehow sink a slightly fleshy ironclad then it’s time to abandon the sea and pray they don’t grow legs.

I also need to get some depth charges in case the submarine can in fact fire whilst submerged.

The current fleet of 2 ironclads, a battleship, a light cruiser and a bunch of torpedo boats is something, but I feel as though I'm missing a few things.

(battleship being a pre dreadnought, ones with multiple turrets would be referred to as dreadnought battleships to avoid confusion)

Ah yea, logistics, supply ships and troop transports, now while I myself don’t really need supplies, just eating while on land can sort that out...somehow... my human friends do need to.

Waiting for a sail or very early steam ship to tug some supplies over dangerous waters where it may or may not arrive does leave some moral damage on troops, but knowing that it's going to come in larger batches and much faster and safer is another thing.

Thus I shall leave that to another time because we got zombie ships on our hands, and the enemies are already knee deep with these things so yeah.

At my port we had a few facilities set up, mainly a radar, this has allowed me to get a general idea of what is going on in a large cone around the island, of course not a full 360 degrees since the mountain is in the way and we have only got a small chunk of the shoreline to ourselves. So we got something more around 230 but luckily half of the blindspot is allied areas.

I had a report recently that some ships were detected a while back and they merged and became a singular bigger one, and that they were heading on an interception course to a small allied fleet patrolling the local seas.

It was time to finally test the waters of these zombie ships' capabilities.

Despawning my Brandenburg battleship to keep in reserve in case shit hits the fan.

I visited Andraid’s manor before departure to make sure nothing would kick up.

After accepting me, I entered his room to begin the discussion.

“So how did they respond once I left the room during the previous meeting?” (Me)

“Some called you arrogant or self inflated, even saying you are a poser. However some did say that the ships and technology your ships are composed of, ahem, you are composed of, reflects your titles” (Andraid)

“Well it's to be expected, I’m an outsider having a certain level influence on their naval strategies and stuff so” (Me)

“Indeed, however I’m sure this isn't the reason for your visit today now is it?” (Andraid)

“Sharp as always, yes, my facilities have detected some possible Nemesis ships moving to intercept one of the patrols, I want to move to intercept to save the patrols and get a gauge on the nemesis strength” (Me)

“Hmm, I won’t prod as to how you detected them, but if possible, I wish to see and have a few of the ministers to better observe this nemesis threat” (Andraid)

“That can be arranged, but the 2 fleets will make contact within less than 2 hours” (Me)

After nodding and agreeing to meet up at the docks within 20 minutes, we both left the manor and parted ways.

And as agreed, exactly 20 minutes later, Andraid and 4 other men arrived with their own personal guard.

“ Nice to meet you, I am Canwil of the intelligence agency. I assume you are the captain of Steel Angels?” (Canwil)

The tall man with a similarly slender build to Arthen, bowed slightly as he spoke.

“Yes, I am Septaria, pleased to make your acquaintance.” (Me)

Nearly cringed and laughed at saying that, never crossed my mind that I would say such a thing.

I then feared for the after war parties where I would be saying this shit by the second.

“Me and my assistants will be observing the upcoming battle and what is and isn't effective against the so called Nemesis, so I do hope you can bear with our presence” (Canwil)

“No worries, just make sure you contain your excitement” (Me)

I say with a bit of a grin, I then gesture them to come aboard

“Me and my escort flotilla that I have created will be moving to the patrol, it would be better to alert them to retreat, lest they investigate our battle with the nemesis and get caught in the crossfire” (Me)

“Since when did you have an escort flotilla?” (Andraid)

“Since I had that drydock built” (Me)

He looked a bit surprised that I was making ships in there, probably thinking that I would pull them out of thin air. I mean is he wrong? It’s an option but it seemed that the surprised face he has now compared to the initial one was drastically different.

As the Monarch and Devastation left, the giant doors on the docks opened, and out came the cruiser and 4 torpedo boats, they had the crew that the Devastation brought ashore the other day, I mean people would be suspicious if hundreds of people just appeared out of thin air, best keep that knowledge to officials only, though I kinda spilt the beans the other day but may as well keep it to a minimum.

The Monarch and Devastation sailed side by side, the cruiser in front and the torpedo boats forming a reverse V formation in front, with the cruiser as the lead ship.

Not really sure the formation has any sort of use against a zombie ship, but I mean I’m just going for style points here, hearts and minds I guess?

After about an hour of sailing, we arrived near the patrol fleet, they probably noticed us as I could see them waving with the telescope, they sent one to move to us, so I sailed the monarch out of the formation to meet them.

A few moments later.

“It would be best to retreat for now, a nemesis ship is attempting to intercept your fleet, your current ships cannot compete with it” (Me)

“Lady Im not sure if you understand but these ships are top of the line, even empire ironclads are no match” (Sailor)

I pause for a moment, this guy seriously thinks cannonballs and wood can compete with shells and iron?

Then I realise his rosy cheeks and slightly crooked posture.

He’s drunk

Andraid peeks around the corner and stares daggers at the sailor.

His face nearly went snow white as he paled at the sight.

“I will send your message and regards to the fleet’s ship in charge” (Sailor)

As they broke away from the formation they caught back up with their own pack of ships, and moments later they turned back to the port.

“Nice to know the drunkards are protecting the borders during the prelude to war” (Me)

I mumble to myself.

Before I got back to the bridge.

[Nemesis spotted on the horizons]

[1X Harvester, 1XConsumer,4X Assimillators 2X Assimilated Sail Ships, 3X Assimilated Ironclads]

Oh boy, playtime.

I instantly sounded the alarm and all ships went to battlestations, within less than 4 minutes all guns were manned and loaded.

System, what is their statistics?

[Intelligence on ships are low, giving basic information and assumed stats]

[Harvester: ship designed to assimilate biomass of the ships, mainly food and crewmembers, it is a support ship that also heals the other ships out of combat, as far as its combat capabilities goes, It is capable of melee but to a lesser degree, It is slightly faster than the other ships due to lower armour and weaponry]

[Firepower: E]

[Armour: F]

[Speed: D]

[Overall Rank: E]

[Consumer: A devastation ship designed to snap ships in half with its giant frontal jaw, It is designed to break ships down to be easily assimilated, its frontal chitin is strong, protecting it from early cannons, it will occasionally assimilate weaponry it consumes which will be fired from the nostrils on the mouth or from the sides as it charges down a ship]

[Firepower: B]

[Armour: C]

[Speed: E]

[Overall Rank: C]

[Assimilator: A ship with an ability to assimilate parts of ships around itself, during this stage it is capable of little to nothing, however its abilities increase drastically if it is capable of assimilating a ship, but until then it is merely a spectator, but losing forces during combat can lead to a snowball effect as they control shipwrecks]

[Firepower: -]

[Armour: F]

[Speed: E]

[Overall Rank: E]

[Assimilated ships are ships which were attached to assimilators, they can contain many parts and rarely are whole intact ships]

[Firepower: ?]

[Armour: ?]

[Speed: ?]

[Overall Rank: ?]

[stat based per individual]

What's the stats of the 4 assimilated then?

[Assimilated Sail ship Nivea]

[Firepower: D]

[Armour: F]

[Speed: F]

[Overall Rank: F]

[Assimilated Sail ship Nivea]

[Firepower: D]

[Armour: F]

[Speed: F]

[Overall Rank: F]

[Assimilated Ironclad Passionate]

[Firepower: E]

[Armour: D]

[Speed: E]

[Overall Rank: E]

[Assimilated Ironclad Passionate]

[Firepower: E]

[Armour: D]

[Speed: E]

[Overall Rank: E]

2 ironclads and 2 sail ships, seems they are a bit mishmash in their assembly but they try to keep the general shape of the ship, but this might be a 1 off, after surviving a few battles they might assimilate multiple ships and lose its ‘organized’ shape.

But who said I'm letting them survive this battle. They are the Nemesis, my arch enemy and reason to grow as fast as I am.

That and they look really fucking ugly, if this was a manga, it would have so much censoring of those grotesque monsters you would wonder if it was one of ‘those’ mangas.

Fighting the urge to throw up from their looks, I order the fleet to line up and ready their guns, as If mimicking my orders. The Nemesis ships do the same, save for the consumer who is charging at my ships like a madman, whilst chomping it’s giant mouth menacingly.

The torpedo boats aimed their torpedoes and fired a spray in its general direction, 4 35cm torpedoes charge at him from both sides, after a few seconds they all hit, 2 hit it from the port and starboard bow, 1 hit from midship port and 1 starboard stern.

The 2 bow hits, hit with such force the mouth part practically split off of the ship, the other 2 left massive holes in its sides, promptly, the ugly creature sank.

[Consumer sunk, 5000XP + 2TP Gained]

Seeing their main combat ship sink so rapidly, the crew cheered with joy, the observers also were gobsmacked at the firepower of the tiny ships, how could such a small ship make quick work of such a monster?

The Nemesis ships promptly started firing their cannons unlike normal sail ships, they could aim the cannons much more easily, as they directly connected with the cannons and didnt have limited firing arcs, thus they could fire much further and have better angles, but they were still firing now outdated guns, even by the world's standard, not mine.

And the cannonballs that did hit, promptly plinked off the armour, probably giving the person on the other side of the hull a headache or earache, but that's about it.

And as a reward for managing to hit me from several kilometers away, I ordered my Monarch to fire back with its 4 12” cannons, the 2 twin 12” cannons fired their shells at the Nemesis Ironclad.

Since it's an ironclad of the empire, I also get to test my firepower of my oldest ship that's still floating, and their most advanced ironclad.

Promptly the shells shattered the brittle iron armour.

The assimilated ship struggled to stay afloat, while this was already a sort of issue which comes with trying to assimilate a sinking ship and repairing it with a sort of flesh, its heavy biomass and the new water spurting in makes it harder, and it promptly sank.

[Assimilated Ironclad sunk, 3000XP + 1TP gained]

Knowing that my outdated ship was capable of piercing it, I ordered my torpedo boats to start firing with their 37mm cannons, while they had to fire at a high arc at this range, after a few moments of intense firing, one hit and promptly shattered on its armour, but a fairly small chunk of the iron shattered, since it was very brittle and the relatively cold waters here didn’t help it either.

So knowing that its capable of damaging the armoured plates from long range, I ordered my cruiser to join in the fun with its 105mm, knowing they are going to get gunned down at this rate, the Nemesis started to turn to close the distance, but After 2 salvos, the cruiser got a hit in and it made a mess of the second ironclad, it struggled but managed to probably plug the hole, their damage control speed is admirable, but it's bow half is a bit lower in the water than the stern half, yea this one somehow managed to get 2 halves of a ship to stay afloat in time.

Content with the results, I ordered all ships to open fire, it only took a few moments before the remaining 8 nemesis ships went under.

[Harvester sunk, 2000XP gained]

[Assimilated Ironclad sunk, 3000XP + 1TP gained]

[Assimilated sail ship sunk X2, 4000XP + 2TP gained]

[Assimilator sunk X4, 8000XP + 4TP gained]

[Battle won, bonus gained, 100,000XP + 20TP

I let out a big yawn as it was now noon, while I was now sluggish, the observers were anything but so,their wide eyed excitement and eagerly fast hands writing down notes, would be a sight to behold on their own, they reminded me of my previous younger self when I was a full on military otaku, while I still am, I am nowhere near as ‘that’ excited over stuff.

-somewhere nearby on an island-

“So did you see the results?” (? 1)

“Aye, that is some scary firepower the alliance has gotten” (? 2)

“Isn't that the steel angels fleet that caught 1 and 2?” (? 1)

“Yes, keep low for a while and bring that camera with you, we cannot afford to lose this intel, that fleet could single handedly wipe out the empire, you saw how those little ones bear unbelievable firepower, even capable of doing moderate damage to the ironclads” (? 2)

-back to Septaria-

Back at port the people lined up to see the small flotilla head back into my own docks, this time at the external ones.

As I get off the monarch, Momoi and some escorts greet me.

I head to my quarters back to crash for the night, It was quite a battle and I feel sluggish, that said I haven’t actually eaten at all my whole time here, since I don’t feel hungry, but it means I don’t get any proper supplies for my ships too so…I should probably have some supper, for the first time this life.

Ahhhh I never thought I would have ever said so~