(Jason's POV)
"Sir, the battle on the Northern Front has been nearly resolved." I heard Felicity speak through the speaker next to me, "Igora has defeated the Shield known as Erigor and the majority of the Alvarez forces have been pushed back."
I was in the briefing room, looking at the map that showed the Northern Front. It seems that Igora had wrapped things up over there and took care of the Etherious Shield.
"I see." I said, "What about the other Shield?"
"According to my readings, he has retreated and pulled his forces back, taking a major portion of the Northern Forces out of the battle." She said, "My guess it was his orders to do so."
"Did Zeref tell him to retreat?" I heard Mavis ask, "Something's not right."
I nodded, "Agreed." He said, "They have Airships so they're probably going around the battle and heading straight for Magnolia. Irene and August's Armies are nearby alongside Invel and the other main armies. I guess that the Northern Forces were a distraction."
I looked at her, she had a concerned look on her face.
"What should our move be?" She asked, "Should I tell Warrod to pull his forces back? It does look that the majority of their forces are retreating."
I looked at the map; she was right. Larcade's army was going around the battle while the other Shield's army was still locked in battle.
"Hm..." I said as I placed my hand on my chin
Larcade. Now that's the guy I want to be careful with. His power could be a hard counter to me, assuming it does work on me. Not just me, but the majority of the women around that can fight; Erza, Kagura, Mira, and Mavis. Hell, even the ones that are near him aren't safe; Levy, Igora, Seilah, and Minerva.
I have to do something about him.
"Mavis." I said, "Send word to Warrod and Minerva. Tell them to keep the Twin Dragons on standby, let the others deal with the remaining forces. Keep Sting reserved for that Shield."
She looked at me, "W-Why's that?" She asked
I gave her a serious look, "Just do it." I said, "Trust me on this. Sting's power will be useful against him. Rogue will only act as a backup to his firepower. Do it now."
She nodded, "Okay, will do." She said, "But so you know, I've gone and tell Makarov to prepare for battle. There are Vanguard forces that have tried to assault Magnolia. I have a feeling a massive battle will take place."
I nodded, "Okay." I said, "That's for the best. Natsu and Gray are on their way there."
She then walked away.
As she did, I heard Felicity speak up.
"Sir." She said, "May I ask permission to ready them for stand-by?"
"What's their status?" I asked
"Their current magic power is at a 20% level, sir." She said, "It'll take around 45 minutes to fully charge them up and keep them on the ready."
"Okay." I said, "Do it. I have a feeling they'll come in handy."
"As for the other weapon." She continued, "Will the White-Raven be used in this battle?"
I shook my head, "Doubt it." I said, "We lost the God-Killer. I don't want to risk losing that one too. We'll be fine with the A.Cs."
"Very well." She said, "Commencing Autonomous Calvary's Charging Sequence."
I felt as if the entire ship slightly vibrated. The shields would temporarily go down for at least 10 minutes at the beginning of the sequence. It was necessary to kick-start the charging and they'll be brought back up in a bit. I wasn't too worried about it.
"Good." I said crossing my arms, "Those will be more useful than the Knights."
"Jason." I heard a voice call
I turned to see Kagura. She was standing by the massive glass panes, her back turned to me. The tone in her voice suggested that she had to say something urgently.
I raised an eyebrow, "What is it?"
"Something's wrong." She said as I walked up to her, "Those clouds look off....."
She pointed ahead and I looked to where she was pointing at. I squinted and saw several clouds in the sky that were oddly shaped and flickering slightly.
"W-What....." I said before widening my eyes, "Oh shit! Felicity, pull up the shiel-"
It was too late. We were hit by several rail-gun payloads that struck the deck, causing massive explosions that shook the ship.
"An attack?!" Kagura exclaimed as we both stumbled
"Shit!!!" I yelled, "Mavis!!"
I looked up to see Mavis running at me through the rest of the scattering mages that were here.
"Jason!" She shouted, "We're under attack! How did they sneak up on us?!"
I straightened up to see the clouds disappearing and several dozen airships similar to the ones in Ajeel's fleet were slowly making their way towards us.
"I don't know..." I said, "Those cannons are gonna be tricky...The Nemesis can hold out for several dozen shots, but It'll be a matter of time before it succumbs to the damage. Without the shields up....."
"Sir!" Felicity said, "I apologize! We've been ambushed. Two massive fleets of airships have surrounded us and are making their way towards us at an alarming speed. They are currently several thousand meters away. The ships in front are the closest!"
I gritted my teeth, "Shit." I said, "What about the shields?!"
"The Charging sequence cannot be canceled, I apologize. The shields will be up in 8 minutes and 15 seconds." She said, "And 15% of The Nemesis artillery defenses are currently available. The rest will be back online in 15 minutes. We're at a disadvantage here."
Fuck. I got careless. I figured that it'll be fine to make the ship vulnerable at such a high altitude where nobody would find us. I have no clue how the fuck they were able to track the ship down so fast. It's not like we were sending massive fire support frequently.
"This is bad!" Kagura said
I shook my head, "Don't worry." I said, "Felicity, speed the charging up. I want those A.Cs up and running in 15 minutes."
"But sir." She said, "I can do that, but I'll have to divert power from the booster system that keeps up afloat."
"Do it." I told her, "When we lose flight, use the reserve Moon God Lacrima to transport you straight to the ground and assume Ground Mode. I'll handle the fleet and defend the ship in the meantime."
Mavis looked at me, "W-What?" She said, "What are you talking about? A.Cs?"
I nodded, "Don't worry." I told her, "Get everyone prepared for battle if they board the deck."
I then began to run towards the deck looking ahead towards the ships as they prepared another onslaught.
"Jason, wait!" I heard Kagura call out as I ran
"Kagura." I said
"I won't let you fight alone!" She said as she ran behind me
"Alright." I said stopping and grabbing her in my arms
"W-Whoa!" She said
I then launched myself up in the air in a swift motion and snapped my fingers.
"Archangel's Might"
Suddenly, the massive airship that I use frequently appeared out of nowhere and I landed on top of it. I slowly put Kagura down as we both stood on the roof of it as it flew towards the ships that were shooting cannons at us.
"This..." Kagura said, "Who's piloting this?"
"Don't worry." I said
"Auto-Pilot Mode: Nemesis Defense"
"It'll fly near the ship to defend it." I told her, "In the meantime, we destroy those ships and prepare for the other incoming fleets. We keep this up until the shields come back online and the A.Cs are deployed. Trust me, we'll need them."
She nodded, "Okay." She said drawing her sword, "I trust you completely."
I was going to speak when a heard a loudspeaker static.
"Well well well." I heard a man's voice say, "If it isn't Jason, the man who His Majesty wants dead. Not only that, the scum that impregnated Irene-sama..."
I raised an eyebrow, "Who the hell?"
"That voice..." Kagura said, "That's the shield that escaped Erza and I!!!"
Neinhart? His voice sounds slimier than I remember.
"Dimaria and I have personally come to get rid of your filthy ship and execute you, Jason!!!" Neinhart said, "Prepare yourself! Our full forces are converging towards you!!!"
I chuckled, "Is that so?" I said
"Good luck."
[A/N: New Novel on my Lunacia_Yujin account
https://www.webnovel.com/book/33832632708871405 ]