Chapter 25: Confrontation
Nightfall, Conference Room.
Under the flickering golden candlelight, gathered inside the Conference Room right now are every senior Ship Girls of the Sakura Empire. Seated at the spot usually reserved for the Armada is now Mikasa, the temporary leader of the Sakura Empire Combined Fleet but after everything that happened earlier, perhaps it'd be more fitting to call her the new official leader.
Seated to her left and right, the two spots that are once Akagi and Kaga's, are now Zuikaku and Shoukaku. When talking about seniority, there are other Ship Girls who far surpassed them, however, an exception was made in consideration of the intel they hold.
The purpose of this meeting is, obviously, to decide where the Sakura Empire Combined Fleet will go from this point on. Once Zuikaku and Shoukaku had explained to them everything that they've witnessed inside the Mirror Sea and heard from Akagi, the senior Ship Girls began the discussion among each other.
The two options that they have currently are,
To heed Commander Kasai's call to arms, betray Sakura Empire and join hands with the Siren to go to war with the Eagle Union. Or…
Stay loyal to the mission that they are tasked with even since before becoming Ship Girls, that is to give their life for the Sakura Empire, and effectively going against their Commander's order.
Seated at the Commander's seat, Mikasa silently observed how the unfolding discussion.
Currently, the general tone among the Ship Girls seem to be falling toward the latter option, however, as the discussion goes on some are starting to lean toward the former instead. Either option is going to be a tough pill to swallow, and Mikasa also fully understood the reason to this indecisiveness.
Eternal servitude to the nation, selfless for the cause, and utmost loyalty to the Commander.
The three vows that are ingrained into every Ship Girl's Wisdom Cube, such is the reason. While there are slight differences between each nation, the general idea is still the same.
Putting it into scientific term, the vows are in essence a set of protocols that are programmed into the Wisdom Cube, setting the foundation for and govern each individual Ship Girl's behavioral development. So that regardless of the 'personality' that each Ship Girl will later on exhibit, they will still carry out without fail the mission they're tasked with.
Despite obtaining free will and a 'self' after becoming Ship Girl, they're still slaves to their duty.
Being a pre-Dreadnought Battleship, Mikasa was born into an age where the world has yet to be greeted with the Siren threat, and by the time her conversion came 'Ship Girl' is still something of a rare sight.
As such, just like Commander Kasai said, Mikasa, the Shrine Maiden of the Sacred Sakura and very few selected Ship Girls, are exempted from the three vows.
Since a sense of duty and the title of old Combined Fleet's flagship are the only two things that bound her to the Sakura Empire, in this situation Mikasa would definitely choose her nation over Commander Kasai, but the other girls do not have it so easy.
"We're not getting anywhere at this pace…" Mikasa let out a small sigh while probing her chin.
Shortly afterward, since the meeting was going nowhere at all, Mikasa had no choice but to end it and dismissed the Ship Girls for the night. Staying behind were only her, Zuikaku and Shoukaku, still knitting their brows together trying to come up with something, anything at all to resolve this situation.
"Is there really no other way at all…?" Zuikaku muttered. Isn't exactly the thinking type herself, but when Zuikaku saw her sister and the great senior Mikasa who are both smarter and wiser than her were wearing a complicated expression, it's only natural for her to get discouraged.
"Commander, back then he seemed to be acting on his own volition. Is this truly what he wanted deep in his heart, I wonder…"
"No, there's no way! He must simply be under the Siren's mind control! Yes, that must be it! Then in that case, all we have to do is to defeat them and Commander will be himself again."
Having experienced firsthand just how easily the Siren can control one's mind, Shoukaku was clinging to the hope that Commander Kasai's action was only because of the Siren's influence. With that thinking in mind, she racked her brain formulating a strategy focusing on taking out the Siren commander and Akagi and Kaga instead. It also didn't take long for her to realize it's no easier a task than fighting with Commander Kasai himself.
As for Mikasa…
With her being a pre-Dreadnought Battleship, the only one here exempted from the three vows, hypothetically speaking she could use a more forceful method, as in to have all the Ship Girls relinquish their right to freely act and follow her orders only. After all, their servitude to the nation still takes priority over their loyalty to Commander Kasai, so even if they cannot go against his order they can still deal with the Sirens. But here comes the biggest obstacle to overcome.
That would leave Mikasa as the only one who can actually confront Commander Kasai. The difference in individual's capability aside, she's a pre-Dreadnought Battleship and he's an Armada-class Carrier.
Her, a relic of the previous war, against him, the magnum opus of humanity's scientific achievement, in an age where Battleship's position as flagship has been usurped and replaced by Carrier no less. Slice it whatever way you wanted, this is an uphill battle that they've brought upon themselves.
No, perhaps…there's yet another way. But they'll have to swallow the pride of Sakura Empire for this one.
"Zuikaku, those airplanes of yours, how high can they fly?"
At the same time, off the Sakura Empire's shore. Sector 2-4.
After Commander Kasai delivered the ultimatum during the day, Akagi and Kaga had the Siren fleets retreated two sectors back and formed an underwater perimeter defense, even going as far as having five Carrier-class set up a jamming field, to ensure no one nor information can enter nor leave the naval base.
Inside the Mirror Sea, at the very depth of the Siren research facility that has now been rebuilt, Commander Kasai stood on the pedestal as his Rigs and internal machine components were receiving one final tuning in preparation for the big day tomorrow.
In charge of the holographic terminal this time was Observer Alpha, and this time there were four terminals at once before her. Using her tentacles, she was controlling all four terminals at once, with a rather elated grin hanging on her face.
"Hehehe, to think your Wisdom Cube could evolve to such a state, you really are full of surprises, aren't you, 'Armada'?" Observer intentionally spoke her words out loud in an attempt to probe at Commander Kasai, and at the same time tease Akagi and Kaga who were waiting at the entrance right behind her.
"Keep your words to yourself, Siren. I only need you to do your job properly, and for that you'd only require your hands, not your mouth." An in respond to her tease, Commander Kasai immediately shot her down. Yet knowing that she probably poked at a sensitive spot, Observer simply snickered and returned to controlling the terminals.
"I truly hope you'll make the right decision, War God."
The next day.
Once the great Father Sun has reached his highest peak on the sky, the Siren fleets that have been lying in wait underwater then emerged and once again painted the entire horizon black with their colossal body.
On the other side, the Sakura Empire combined fleet has already moved out in force and on order of Mikasa, formed a Crane Wing formation after splitting into four smaller fleets.
A few minutes later, the rift in space then opened and along with Akagi and Kaga, Commander Kasai finally made his appearance.
"The time has come, War God. Now tell me, what is the Sakura Empire's decision?" he called out, and to deliver her answer, Mikasa stepped forward while unsheathing her blade.
"Needn't you ask, O Armada, for our answer is one and the same. For the sake of protecting Sakura Empire from all foreign threats, even should such threat be you, the nation's prided Armada, we will fight to the last person standing!"
"I see. Such a pity, really. Then from this point on, words are no longer necessary." With a wave of his hand, the Siren fleets immediately swarmed toward the Sakura Empire Ship Girls with their fangs bared.
"First volley, fire!" with their main batteries locked onto the approaching enemies, on Mikasa gave the order the Battleship girls then simultaneous discharged all their cannons. A thunderous roar reverberated in the atmosphere as rain of shells then hailed down on the Sirens.
A series of explosions occurred, the volley just now had wiped out nearly the entire first wave of Sirens, but through the smoke and flame another wave then took their place almost immediately. While their attacks are indeed effective, unfortunately their efforts were rendered null by the Siren's sheer number alone.
"Second volley, ready! Vanguard fleet, prepare to intercept the stragglers!"
"Fire!" came the second volley. Just like the first time, the hail of cannon fire dealt a clean hit on the approaching Sirens, but soon as one of them got hit, a dozen more immediately filled in that spot and because of that, the momentum of their advance barely decreased if at all.
Vastly outnumbered, Mikasa's only choice was to fight a defensive battle, slowly and hopefully chip away at the enemy fighting force. At the same time, mindlessly charging forward the Sirens have entered within coastal artillery's range so at least the Ship Girls managed to have some leeway.
"Begone, hideous abominations!" launching two torpedo salvos and followed up by a frontal barrage, Takao and Atago by themselves had taken out five Sirens in one fell swoop. A little bit ahead of them were Maya and Choukai currently dealing with a Carrier-class and its escort.
"Perish by my blade!" with one single swing of her sword, Maya had cleaved a Light Cruiser-class into halves, opening up the way for Choukai to deliver the finishing blow on the Carrier-class.
"Elder sister Takao, we're finished over here!"
"Acknowledged. It's high time we fall back with the main fleet-" the moment Takao said that, two squadrons of blazing fighters then dove down from above and carpet bombed down on the sisters.
"Kuh, these fighters, they're Commander's!" just as she said, from afar they could see Commander Kasai fast approaching. Takao gripped tightly onto her blade as she recalled the event of yesterday. Suddenly, she charged forward with abandon which caught Maya and Choukai by surprise, causing them to lag behind in how to react to the situation.
"Elder sister!" Maya was the first to give chase after Takao, as for Choukai, when she was about to do the same, noticed that Atago was standing still in place with her shoulders trembling slightly. The fear and despair that she felt yesterday was still yet vivid in her mind. By the time Choukai managed to snap her out of her fevered mumbling, a new group of Sirens had already blocked the path forward so they have no other choice but to retreat.
"Commander!" cutting down all Sirens in her way, Takao forged a path heading straight toward Commander Kasai. Since she came her all on her own, Takao had sustained quite a bit of damage and by the time she finally reached Commander Kasai, one of her four turrets was already burning and emitting black smoke.
"I thought I already told you to stand down."
"You…you're really Commander, right? The same wise and kind Commander?" she asked in a shaking tone.
"What are you getting at, Takao? I am Kasai no Kagutsuchi, Commander and Armada of the Sakura Empire. You yourself have witnessed it firsthand yesterday, no?"
"Then why? Why did you betray us!? Was everything you've said about protecting the Sakura Empire all a lie?"
"So it'd seem you're mistaken about something. Everything I have and am doing is still for the sake of Sakura Empire. While I may have allied myself with the Siren, they're no more than stepping stone and no less than a tool for me to achieve my goal. Now stand aside, I've already wasted enough time-"
"No, I refuse to! Those words aren't something Commander would ever say! The Commander I know is kind, gentle and very wise! Commander always believed in the unified strength of Sakura Empire and would never stoop so low as to borrow the power of enemy!"
"You're not the Commander of the Sakura Empire, you're just a mere impostor created by the Siren's witchcraft!" following her outburst of emotion, with all her might Takao tried to raise her blade at Commander Kasai still only to no avail.
"I see. You've made your intention very clear. Hate and despite me if you must, however, blame no one but your own insubordination for what's about to come!" with a wave of his hand, two blazing fighter squadrons were sent forth toward Takao.
Refusing to move from her spot but at the same time still have no actual way of defending herself or retaliate, Takao was like a fish on a chopping board.
"Elder sister!" out of left field, Maya then jumped in front of Takao and took the full brunt of the attack for her sister. The blazing fighters crashed right into her turrets, detonating the internal ammunition storage and after a series of explosion, her Rigs was rendered inoperable.
"Damn you…!" biting onto her lips to the point of bleeding, Maya dashed straight at Commander Kasai and tried to unsheathe her blade, also to no avail. With all her means of attacking completely useless, Maya casted off her smoking Rigs and threw away her sword as she utilized the increase in speed to throw a punch.
But before her fist could even come close to reaching Commander Kasai, from under Maya another, smaller rift in space then opened as multiple tentacles sprung out from inside and dragged her into the rift.
"Maya!" Takao called out and dashed toward her little sister, but by the time she arrived Maya had already disappeared without a trace. Witnessing her sister being abducted before her very and she herself was powerless, unable to do anything at all, Takao collapsed on her knees.
"Do you understand now? Such is the fate of those who disobey me, and it will also be yours should you keep up with this façade." Commander Kasai said coldly, pinning the abduction of Maya onto Takao as he walked pass her. Though he didn't make it far as his next opponent has already made herself known before him.
"So you're next." Before him stood the War God.
"This is as far as you'll go, O Armada." Mikasa declared as all her turrets got him locked in their sight. Shaking his head from side to side, Commander Kasai's six blazing flight bridge suddenly blazed up with the golden flame.
"One after another , must all of you keep getting in my way!"
Kneeling on the spot where Maya once was, Takao kept reaching out her hands toward thin air, desperately searching for her little sister who is no longer there. Then the moment she finally accepted that there is no one there, and it was because of her rushing ahead while disregarding about others with her, Takao started to lament at the fact.
"You…" but her period of despair did not last long. Picking up Maya's sword that was floating nearby, she slowly rose up on her feet.
"You…You!" filled with wrath and hatred, Takao then reached for her blade. Despite her body resisting such order, her grip on the hilt kept tightening, to the point her nails dug deep into her palm and blood began to ooze out. And after much struggle, she was finally able to unsheathe it.
"You! I'll kill you!" like the roar of a beast, Takao let out a deafening war cry and lunged at Commander Kasai. Striking an opponent from behind, the usual her would never allow such dishonorable act even when fighting the Siren, but now Takao no longer care about anything else. With her sister gone and her trust betrayed, the flame of conviction inside her was snuffed out. Now remained only a small, flickering light, like embers.
Without turning around, Commander Kasai sent out his blazing fighters to deal with Takao instead.
In a motion similar to Iaido, the school of martial art which emphasize on the quick draw of the sword, in one fluid motion Takao had drew her blade and delivered a single stroke from below with lightning fast speed.
One blazing fighters, then two and three. Her blade cut through them cleanly like mud. After the fourth one, however, the blade then broke into halves and fell down, unable to withstand the intense heat of the golden flame.
She then reached for Maya's blade, and after the seventh fighters it also suffered the same fate. Takao then tried to retaliate with her cannons, only to notice then that the fighters she cleaved into halves earlier had stuck themselves to her Rigs, melting the cannon barrel with their residual heat.
Completely defenseless, the remaining fighter then crashed into her and exploded as her body slowly fell backward like a puppet with its strings cut.
The same rift from before then opened up beneath her and multiple tentacles then sprung forth. But just as the tentacles were about to grab her, a frontal barrage of HE shells then reduced them to ash.
"My, although we've never talk face to face, I never really took you for the violent kind." Catching Takao's falling body into her arm, the savior who had just arrived then shifted her gaze to Commander Kasai while licking on her index finger.
"You're…Ironblood…" Takao muttered weakly, so her savior quickly placed her index on the former's lips and reassured her.
"Hush now. Though I'm still not sure how this situation came to be, our Kommandant's here now, so everything will be all right in a jiffy~."
"You…? Why are you here? No, more importantly, if you're here then that means he has also-" before Commander Kasai could finish his sentence, two bright blue beam of light then shot toward him, easily melting through all the Sirens in its path and struck down one of his flight bridge.
"Tch!" Shielding his face as the flight bridge exploded, Commander Kasai then felt an intense force hitting at his abdomen and knocked him a fair distance back. Even with an Armada cybernetically enhanced body, it still felt like all his internal organs were crushed.
Coughing a few times, he then looked up to confirm the assailant was exactly who he thought to be.
Two giant mechanical claws, electricity cackling on the metallic surface of his Rigs, and an intense aura of rage could be felt emanating from his body.
Champion of the Ironblood, Commander Burai Van Streiter made his appearance.
"Oy, Kasai. Mind explain to me what's the deal with this whole freak show?"
And another chapter done. Things are finally getting real intense, but sad news, next week my lectures are starting again and we're starting internship this semester so, update might not be as frequent as usual.