Chapter 10 – Proelium (Struggle)
"Stand down from battle stations," said Ekaril, from her seat on the command station on Blue. Tsubael sat at the gunner's seat, while Hisoka took the operator's seat. Mari and Azanael were out in fighters, making their way back after another skirmish with Arume forces.
"Another little victory. It's almost too easy taking out those frigates," spoke Hisoka.
"It is, but a victory is a victory. We don't know if they still have a way of tracking us, or not. We have to test the waters before going after a major target," replied Ekaril.
"That, and we need to build up morale. The crew hasn't been the same since Seigai left," spoke Tsubael.
"No, they have not," replied Hisoka, "and they're not going to be, until we accomplish something."
"What are you suggesting?" asked Ekaril.
"Aren't there any major targets we can at least take a look at? Surely there's something bigger than another small coastal village protected by a pair of frigates."
"There may be. I've been sending out scout fighters to various potential targets. I was about to look at their reports. Perhaps we should look at them together?"
"I would like to, yes. Whether they can track us or not isn't as important as doing something."
"Alright, Tsubael, you have the bridge. Hisoka, you're with me," Ekaril spoke, as she motioned Hisoka to join her in the conference room.
"Understood, Commander," replied Tsubael.
Hisoka rose from her station, and followed Ekaril to her destination.
"Blue, show me the intelligence reports from gamma scout," spoke Ekaril.
The computer acknowledged her, and started showing different photos of the area the scout fighter had been looking at. Hisoka and Ekaril began looking at everything they could see.
"Wait, go back to that last one. Yeah, that one," Hisoka said, as she looked at a particular photo. The photo in question showed an Arume battle cruiser, with multiple bombers flying in formation with it.
"Ekaril, where is this photo from?" asked Hisoka.
"Hamamatsu."
"What is over there?"
"They have a ship repair facility over there. It's reasonably guarded. They have a pair of heavy cruisers, along with that battle cruiser. Nothing we could easily take on."
"Are you certain of that. Look at those bombers. See how they're flying above the battle cruiser."
"I do; what of it?"
"I just had an idea. Since the bombers are up that high, isn't there a way for us to drop them onto the battle cruiser? Surely that would cause a lot of damage to the ship, if it didn't destroy it, right?"
"It... would. Yes, it could at least disable it. But it would be difficult to get them to crash into the battle cruiser like that."
"Could we hack their guidance systems? You've mentioned at least once before those ships are fairly automated, right? Their only purpose is to drop Gosta. We don't usually see them flying above their main ships like this. Surely there's an opportunity here."
"It is very foolish for the district command ship to be below their bombers. It won't matter if they see us coming, though."
"We'll have to take the chance. If we don't get a major victory soon, I fear the crew will start to rebel against us, and I'll be stuck having to take over. Or worse, Kensuke would end up taking charge."
"If they are tracking us, this could end in a disaster."
"I know, I know, you don't have to keep telling me. But look, Ekaril, us humans can't just sit back and watch. We have to try and be proactive. We need to be doing something, anything. And I think this is that something we need. It's a coastal city, so it should be difficult for them to surround us, as long as they don't send in more ships. We can bail at the first sign of trouble, if needed, but we need to try."
"Alright, Hisoka, we'll try it. But if we aren't able to immediately take out that battle cruiser, I'm taking us out of there. Taking on two heavy cruisers is one thing, but I won't take on a battle cruiser at the same time."
"Thank you, Ekaril. Now... now we need a plan. You told me Azanael was able to plant a virus in Blue's systems before, right?"
"Yes. You're thinking of having her hack into the bomber's guidance systems, right?"
"Hey, it will teach them why you don't leave bombs hanging over your head. It's worth trying. If we can't get the bombers to drop, then we'll pull out."
"We'll assemble the rest of the staff. Including Kensuke. I think he might want to be a part of this one. We should give him a target to take his frustrations out on."
Hisoka nodded in response.
Ekaril and Hisoka gathered the rest of the senior staff in the conference room, and explained their plan to everyone present. It appeared the meet the approval of all present.
"So... you let me out of the box to help you ice a battle cruiser, eh?" asked Kensuke.
"That's right. You'll have to follow my orders. That's the price for this opportunity. Are you okay with that?" asked Ekaril.
"No, I'm not. But I've been itching to kill some blue-eyed devils, so I think I can at least stomach it for a bit."
"It's been a while since we've had to fly a three-man strike outside of a simulator. Would be nice to have a little change," spoke Azanael.
"We'll be flying cover for you, Azanael, since you'll need to do the important part," said Mari.
"Oh, this will be a treat. Two humans keeping devil girl safe. That alone is worth the price of admission," added Kensuke.
"Don't have too much fun in your role. I'm sure we'll go back to me saving your ass once the bombers are down," replied Azanael.
"Feh, whatever, Devil Girl."
"I'm glad we have all three of you on this mission," spoke Ekaril.
"Just make sure to keep your hands near the afterburners. There's a good chance this won't work, and I'd rather us not hang around long enough to get torn up by that battle cruiser," said Hisoka.
"If you believe in the Commander and her plan, then this will work. Have faith in all of us, and we can win here," added Tsubael.
"Have faith, eh? Only thing I have faith in is killing little devils. All I've ever needed," spoke Kensuke.
"I swear you'll never change..." muttered Azanael.
"Alright, let's start the operation. Dismissed!" shouted Ekaril.
Everyone nodded, and headed off their separate ways. Mari, Azanael, and Kensuke headed for the hanger, while Ekaril, Hisoka, and Tsubael headed back to the bridge. Everyone waited for a few minutes for everyone to get in position.
"Commander, this is Azanael, the three of us are ready to fly on your command."
"Shields are up and ready to go," spoke Hisoka.
"Weapons are charged, and ready," added Tsubael.
"Very good. All hands, battle stations. Hisoka... take us in!" shouted Ekaril.
The engineer nodded and Blue made the shift to Hamamatsu. The pair of heavy cruisers did not hesitate to move from their positions to engage Blue.
"We're here!" shouted Hisoka.
"Azanael, launch!" shouted Ekaril.
Blue's hanger opened, and three fighters emerged, along with a team of drones behind them. The opposing ships all launched their fighters, as well. Azanael's team headed straight for their target; the battle cruiser. The bombers were still flying above it. The battle cruiser was starting to turn towards Blue, but did not otherwise move out of position.
"How close do we need to get, Devil Girl?" asked Kensuke.
"Close, within a few meters of them. I can handle that maneuver, just keep my back clear," replied Azanael.
"Heh, will do," replied Kensuke, as he went to shoot down a pair of drones that had locked onto Azanael's fighter.
The trio of fighters flew through all the projectiles launched by the battle cruiser's point defense systems, and approached their targets. Mari and Kensuke had already picked up manned fighters, and were doing their best to take them out. One of the manned fighters took some shots at Azanael. Mari quickly flew in and took her out, while at the same time trying to out-fly a fighter she picked up on her own tail. Kensuke was happy to take out the fighter Mari had picked up, along with a pair of drones flying cover. Within moments, Azanael was within range of her targets.
"Hacking into their systems... got it. I'm directing the bombers to crash into the battle cruiser," spoke Azanael.
The cluster of five bombers above the battle cruiser immediately changed direction, and headed straight for the battle cruiser. It was moments before they all crashed into their target, a massive explosion erupting from the five bombers crashing into the battle cruiser one after the other. The devastation from the bombers hitting it destroyed the battle cruisers command tower, and heavily damaged its engines, resulting in the ship going down. The battle cruiser crashed on the docks, taking out the ship repair facility located there.
"Scratch one battle cruiser," spoke Kensuke, "and about damn time we took one of those doll houses out of the sky."
"We see it, good job, team, now head back, and get these fighters off of our backs," spoke Ekaril.
The trio of fighters headed back in the direction of the fight between the three heavy cruisers. Blue had positions herself right between the two powerful ships. She was taking a beating, but still holding strong.
"Shields at 80%" shouted Hisoka, as the bridge shook from repeated hits.
"What about the other ships?" asked Ekaril.
"The same. They're not troubling to modify their shields like we are," spoke Tsubael.
"Keep hitting them. It's going to be an endurance match. Our fighters are going to make the difference here," spoke Ekaril.
Tsubael nodded, and kept firing Blue's main batteries at the flanking cruisers.
Outside the trio of fighters had rejoined the fight. They three fighters targeted the cruiser starboard to Blue, easily maneuvering around the ships point defenses, and launching missiles at the ship, helping Blue to further erode its shields. All of the manned fighters from both ships had already been shot down. The drones were unable to touch the trio of Azanael, Mari, and Kensuke. Explosions started to erupt from the starboard cruisers batteries, and Blue started to punch through the ships shields. Blue immediately targeted their reactor, taking out the ship, and leaving Blue engaged in a one on one match with the other cruiser. That fight didn't last much longer. With Blue able to focus all of her guns onto one target, and her stronger shields lasting much longer, in addition to her having proper fighter support, the other cruiser did not stand a chance. There were taken out a few minutes later, freeing the area from Arume control.
"Stand down from battle stations," Ekaril said, "and good work everyone."
"This is Azanael, we're returning to base."
"Good job, and welcome back," replied Ekaril, "Tsubael, Hisoka, what's our status?"
"Our shields are down to 50%. We took a little damage to the crew compartments, but no major hull breaches. Just a couple scrapes and a bloody nose," replied Hisoka.
"Our weapons will need some time to recharge, but we're otherwise in good condition," added Tsubael.
"Good. Let's get out of here for now. Hisoka, take us out," spoke Ekaril.
Blue shifted back to one of the other organic layers, once again hiding the ship from tracking. Aboard the ship, there was an atmosphere of celebration and excitement. Everyone aboard no longer seemed worried about having an Arume commander. The victory was just what they needed. Even Kensuke was happy at the result.
"Well, I'll be damned, never thought I'd be okay with having you in charge, but damn, that was a Hell of a fight," spoke Kensuke.
"I told you she was the best choice," said Hisoka.
"Thank you both, but I still couldn't have done any of this without. This mission was mostly your idea, Hisoka. I just carried it out," replied Ekaril.
"After a long week of hit and runs against small targets we needed something. It's a shame the battle cruiser fell on the ship repair facility. It would have been helpful to have that in our possession. Still, at least they can't use it anymore, either."
"Feh, we don't need more of your technology. We have this ship, we have this crew. That's good enough, isn't it?" asked Kensuke.
"You're in an awfully good mood for someone who spent a week in the brig," spoke Hisoka.
"Hey, you guys brought me out to shoot up some blue-eyed devils. It always leaves me in a good mood to add more kills to my count. Bonus points for having to fly cover for Devil Girl."
"Glad we could oblige. Are you over what happened with Seigai?"
"Seigai... you just had to remind me," Kensuke replied, his cheerful tone dropping.
"Sorry to dampen your mood," spoke Hisoka.
"No, no, it's fine. I suppose we do need to talk about it at some point. I don't know. Just... the idea of them putting him into a blue-eyed devil. And said devil using all he knew to fool us. We should consider ourselves lucky that freak didn't know everything. Who knows what would have happened to us if she stayed here with us. I mean, think about it. She could have led us into another trap. One we couldn't get out of. And then we'd all be dead. It's a good thing they're 'advanced technology' isn't perfect."
"Yeah. It's hard to believe that after all the memories she stole from him, she couldn't get the swords right."
"Maybe it was Seigai fighting them back, or something. Like maybe he remembered wrong on purpose. Gave them just one bad piece of information. Something that would alert us immediately."
"It was probably just a mixed up setting, or something. A frayed wire. A bad number. Something that just didn't transfer his memories correctly."
"That's a sad way of thinking of it."
"It may be, but I don't want to give myself any false hope. It would be nice to think he's still alive in that girl's body. It would, but there's no point in false hopes. No, he's gone, and he has been gone. It's easier to get over if you think of it that way."
"I suppose you're right. I have to admit, I do hate the idea of my best friend helping out the blue-eyed devils."
"And we both know he would never betray us. Not like that Tsegael character."
"I can't wait for us to meet her again. What I'm going to do to her... she'll wish she never crossed us."
"Normally, I'd tell you to tone it down... but for that woman, you can beat and butcher her however you want to. Hell, I might even put in a good kick, or two."
"There's a dream to work towards. About time you at least saw a part of how I thought."
"I have to try a little. We're the last two left. The captain is gone, the commander is gone; it's just the two of us from our class, right?"
"Yeah... just the two of us."
Ekaril walked over to the pair of Hisoka and Kensuke. She heard bits and pieces of their conversation, and had something of her own to add to it.
"You two miss him, don't you?" asked Ekaril.
"Yeah, we do. What about it?" asked Kensuke.
"I heard what you two were saying earlier, about not giving yourselves false hope that Seigai was alive inside of Tsegael. I do agree with the notion, but to a point," explained Ekaril.
"What do you mean? Do you think we should hold onto the hope Seigai is alive in that creature?" asked Hisoka.
"No, not at all. I doubt there's anything of your Seigai in there. At least, not now. Not anymore. There may have been at one point, but it was made quite clear that person was not your commander. But there's another way to see this all. Something you should think about. That he sacrificed himself, to infiltrate the infiltrator. Think about it. If it had been another person, maybe the memory transfer would have gone on perfectly. I would like to think of your Seigai as having sacrificed his mind to deliberately get inside Tsegael's head. And then use that brief time to scramble some of his memories. Just enough to ensure we'd be able to figure it out. And he succeeded. He ruined Tsegael's mission, and kept us safe from her machinations. To us, in our culture, that is a worthy sacrifice. Dying to protect ones friends and family... there is no better way to die than that," explained Ekaril.
"Self sacrifice is beauty, right?" asked Hisoka.
"Yes, exactly. That's how I choose to think of it. You don't have to do the same, of course. I know that, while you honor your heroes and dead for their sacrifices, it doesn't have the same powerful meaning to you as it does to us. But maybe, maybe this one time, perhaps you could learn to think like us, and get a little closer to understanding," replied Ekaril.
"No thanks, I'd rather eat a shit sandwich with a side of nail-clipping soup," spoke Kensuke.
"Why do you care how we think of it?" asked Hisoka.
"It's all part of my own goal. Part of why I am helping you, and what I was hoping to achieve before I was forced into a situation where I would have to sacrifice myself to save Mari and the others," replied Ekaril.
"And what is this goal of yours?"
"My goal in all of this is not to simply just destroy every ship we come across, but to give my people a chance to see that you Forime are our equals. A chance to see that we are the same, yet different. A chance to find a way to coexist peacefully. That's what I want for both of our peoples."
"You might be aiming a little too high. I doubt any of us are going to see it that way. Not when your first move was the drop suicidal bomb girls on us. Once the leaders of the world take note of what has happened here in Japan, they're very likely to shut you out."
"Or they'll just try and blow you out of the sky," spoke Kensuke, "as painful as it is to admit it, we don't exactly have the most powerful armed forces on the planet. The United States has a lot of firepower at their backs. And I doubt they'll go down as quick as we did."
"We know this, of course. We studied your planet extensively before coming here. But listen, as much as you like the idea of brute force, that's not what is going to win this war on your side. We have to make our people see that you're worth bringing to the negotiating table."
"I wish you luck on that," Kensuke said.
"It's not a bad strategy, I suppose. At least in the short term our goals are compatible. If a show of our strength is what it will take to get your people to listen to us, then we are capable of that," spoke Hisoka.
"At least try to keep an open mind that there may be something else to our struggle for victory other than crushing our opponents," Ekaril said, as she turned and left the pair to their discussion.
The crew of Blue continued their celebration for a little while longer, before finally dispersing from the galley. The entire crew found themselves getting the best rest they had since their defeat at Osaka. The next morning, everyone was much more alert. Everyone had a spring to their step. A critical victory was just what everyone needed.
Ekaril called a meeting of the senior staff to plan out their next mission.
"So, how do we follow up this one?" asked Kensuke, "Think we could get Shizuoka back? Sure would be nice to able to walk those streets again."
"I do miss how wonderful Mt. Fuji looked from the beaches there," spoke Hisoka.
"We'll conduct a scout mission..." Ekaril started, before being interrupted by the ship shaking violent. Alert alarms started sounding. Everyone ran to the bridge to see what was going on.
"Status!" shouted Ekaril.
"Shields are up. That first volley took out our Emil Force Drive," replied Hisoka.
"There are three ships that just shifted in. Two heavy cruisers and a battle cruiser," spoke Tsubael.
Blue shook again from the barrage of hits it was taking.
"They're moving in to flank us. The cruisers to our port and starboard, the battle cruiser to aft!" shouted Tsubael.
"Return fire. Hisoka, how bad is the damage to our drive?" asked Ekaril.
"It's not looking good. We took a direct hit from one of their main batteries. It'll take close to an hour to get it repaired," spoke Hisoka, before Blue rocked from another heavy hit.
"Our shields won't last that long without the extra boost from the Emil Force Drive. Shields are already down to 80%," spoke Tsubael.
"Hisoka... head down to engineering, and do that you can..." spoke Ekaril.
Hisoka nodded, and ran for the nearest lift, as Blue continued to shake. Kensuke took her station.
"Damn it, can we launch birds, or something!?" shouted Kensuke.
"No, as hard as they are hitting us, you'd never get clear of us," answered Ekaril.
"Shields dropping to 50%. We have another five minutes at best," spoke Tsubael.
At this point, the trio of Arume on the bridge already knew their fate. The dropping shield reading making the point clear.
"Hey! Come on, devils! You've survived worse than this, right? Right!?" shouted Kensuke, as Blue shook again.
"No, not like this. At least we had a working Emil Force Drive when we took on the expedition fleet. Like this..." spoke Tsubael.
"Like this, we're just target practice," spoke Azanael.
"Then that's it. Tsubael, Azanael, and even you Kensuke... it's been an honor to serve with you over the past couple of months," said Ekaril.
Mari, knowing what those words meant, walked up to Ekaril. If she was going to die, she was going to die in the embrace of her lover.
"Hey, hey! I'm not ready to die just yet! Hell, can't pull more power into the weapons? Or something!?" asked an increasingly frantic Kensuke.
Tsubael could only shake her head in answer, leaving Kensuke to drop in his seat, finally accepting his fate.
The three ships continued pounding on Blue, the ships shields continuing to flicker and fade as the assault continued.