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[b]War at Sea, Blockade Runners, HMAS Stalwart - 10/11/2022, 19:00 UTC+8[/b]

As the radar returns from above changed to something... interesting, Qingshe's brow rose in amusement.

[color=39b54a]"Oh, you're approaching me?"[/color] she murmured. [color=39b54a]"Even after witnessing my deterrence measures, you wish to continue?"[/color] Snorting, her shadow writhed across the deck of the Stalwart, the naval guns retracting back into its depths.

Broadcasting to the supply ships and distraction fleet, she said, [color=39b54a][b]"The enemy Arms Master is currently attempting to ram the supply ships. Requesting distraction."[/b][/color] Honestly, she hadn't thought it would be necessary, because what sort of moron just charges someone unloading that much firepower into them? They should have retreated. But clearly, this "Mei" figure was both nihilistic and stupid, judging by Myron's description of her. Not that the latter wasn't inherent in the former. Whatever, Qingshe could handle this, even if that Noble Arm in the shape of a ship was more resilient than expected.

Broadcasting to the supply ships, she issued her best advice. [color=39b54a][b]"Ram is rapidly imminent. All supply ships, hard turn to port. Kill the lights and go dark. The flying ship most likely doesn't have radar, so we can duck them in the night."[/b][/color] In the meanwhile, her shadow began to spill forth from the deck and down onto the water's surface, shakily managing to manifest atop the surface tension of the waves.

From her shadow, Qingshe began to deploy unmanned vessels, a dozen copies of the supply ships with their engines on full blast and their rudders locked and fully turned to port. Each of the ships was armed with remotely detonatable explosives, so if Mei mistakenly rammed one of the decoys, Qingshe was prepared to light it up in a fireball. Qingshe wasn't certain how Mei was actually targeting them in this lighting, but with these red herrings, if it was receiving directions from its allies or someone aboard, this should scramble both radar and eyesight of the actual supply ships.

Qingshe launched another broadcast to the distraction fleet. [color=39b54a][b]"Yuanyuan's opening barrage targeted the supply ships as much as the distraction fleet. Somehow, despite her ship being too archaic to carry radar, they can see us, could see us from the start. They must be receiving communications from spotters. We need to target the enemy radar."[/b][/color] And unspoken was that if that didn't work, then it meant Mei's ship must have an Arms Master aboard that could parse the darkness.

[color=39b54a]"Now then..."[/color] she turned her attention back to Mei's ship. [color=39b54a]"If you're going to make yourself such an easy target... why not try this on for size."[/color] Her shadow sprouted naval guns again, only six this time. She altered her ammunition a third time, loading it with a chemical compound.

Thioacetone, considered to perhaps be the worst smelling substance on the planet. With a stench serious enough to cause nausea, vomiting and outright unconsciousness. An unstable red oil that stunk relentlessly and unbearably, a smell offensive enough to send people fleeing in terror and panic evacuate an entire town. A reek of such putrid indescribability that it could make someone suspect evil supernatural forces were at work.

For a moment, Qingshe hesitated to deploy such a measure, as the stench would be... truly something unpleasant to behold, to put it lightly. If even this didn't dissuade Mei, then that mad dog would carry the colossal stink with her right up to the supply ships. This, of course, would be a bad thing, such was the sheer strength of the chemical, the nausea it would induce from even the proximity of a [i]missed[/i] ram would be potentially disabling. In short, if she used this and it [i]didn't[/i] take Mei down, it would probably backfire on her own allies. Not a great look.

Pouting, Qingshe altered the ammunition again. [color=39b54a]"Fine then. We'll do this the [i]boring[/i] way."[/color]

Her naval guns barked again, their muzzles giving off no flash to indicate her position, as she hurled exploding shells filled with napalm at Mei's ship, one final parting shot before she went dark as well. Since the ship was diving at her, Mei was now presenting her new targets to fire at, so she angled her shots over the hull to impact the main deck of the ship outright. While the ship was a Noble Arm and therefore wouldn't catch fire conventionally, napalm could still set everything ablaze just by sticking and burning.

And as a bonus, with the ship on fire, they should be plainly visible and targetable to all allied firepower.

[color=39b54a]"Let's see them crave fighting after [i]that[/i]."[/color]