“The Beiyang Fleet has returned to Kure.” She answers with a concerned look on her face.

“Why now?”
“I asked them the same thing.” Yanagi says, placing a hand on her chin. “Even Akasaka-san and Denisov-san are not able to find a logical answer.”

The headquarters of the Beiyang fleet was located on Uchina, the largest island on the Ryukyu archipelago, further south of Kyushu. Considering their favorable position there, there was no real reason why they would suddenly relocate themselves here.

“It’s the Yamato.” Satoru infers, “They most likely relocated here in order for the high command to better oversee the project. But whatever the case might be, we now have yet another factor to worry about.”
“…Shore bombardment.” I could almost see Yanagi shiver mentioning those words.
“Which means if the enemy suddenly starts retreating, we do the same,” I order.
Easily said, but there’s no way to know how effectively it could be done. All things considered, there is still the factor of the army and whether or not they are willing to work with us…

“You are worried about the army guys, aren’t you?” Satoru sighs, seeing right through my concerns. “If that’s the case, I would suggest contacting them now.”
“Wait,” Yanagi abruptly stops her thought process. “Wouldn’t that mean…”
“Our main objective is to cover the marines as they retreat towards delta northeast for them to rendezvous with Denisov and Akasaka, surely they would not mind us setting up a holdout further down near some potential battlegrounds.”

“Are there any places of interest?” I ask, intrigued by my friend’s proposal.
“Two, in fact.” He answers, “There is a steep road ahead where the infrastructure still remains largely intact, an ideal playground for the two of you should anyone come forth, but there’s also another post ahead where the entrance to the old town is located. Certainly more volatile considering the old buildings and closer proximity to the steppe barbarians, but it’s also close to the nearest army outpost, so chances are we’ll meet some of them there.”