"All battleships, open fire," Thorson gave the command from the bridge of the Arizona, initiating a barrage of shells that arced from the eastern horizon in the direction of the Sanctuary, the last bastion of Akagi and Kaga's Sakura faction. Hornet, Enterprise, and Ark Royal had been engaged in skirmishes with the two kitsune since the first light of dawn. The superior engineering of the Union aircraft, now unburdened by human pilots, had ensured easy victory in those initial exchanges, allowing them to approach their final target with minimal resistance. The Commander watched with Arizona as the shells landed. A few struck the clear waters or heavily forested shores of the cove, but the vast majority of them impacted a previously invisible force field, suddenly shimmering and rippling as the ordinance was absorbed and nullified.
"Your orders Commander?" came Colorado's voice. He could sense the cold indignation in her tone, the offense at having her salvos so cheaply disregarded.
"That was a tight grouping at this distance, Colorado," Thorson complimented her and her sisters. "How long can you keep the bombardment up?"
"As long as necessary, sir. Mary, V, we're cracking that dome," Colorado declared, sending another barrage from her 16 inch guns towards the island. As Thorson's fleet continued its approach, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and the others came within range and opened fire as well. Thorson's fleet eventually held position several kilometers from the Sanctuary itself. Aircraft soared from the decks of the Enterprise, Hornet, and Ark Royal, with fighters circling to gain elevation before falling into formation to escort Dauntless dive bombers from Enterprise and B-25 bombers from Hornet. It was that move that finally compelled their enemy to strike back, with swarms of Zeros emerging from beyond the veil and engaging.
"Hornet, pull back," Enterprise commanded, banking her Wildcats in a screen of her more vulnerable planes. The sensation of losing aircraft in combat was unnerving and painful, but she'd rarely felt more alive. "We have anti-air superiority and I'm not seeing any torpedo bombers or dive bombers in that formation."
"Roger that," the younger sister replied before radioing her crew. "Alright boys, man the guns!"
"All ships, fire!" Cleveland ordered, leading the anti-air efforts in concert with Houston, Northampton, Minneapolis, and the other Union cruisers with Thorson's direct permission. The wall of flak sent up from their large caliber AA guns was enough to drive the attacking Zeros into retreat, establishing something of a stalemate. As his 'lieutenants' controlled the finer points of the flow of battle, Thorson kept his eyes trained on the Sanctuary itself. He could see the enemy force, occasionally obstructed as the force field rippled and shook, but they did not engage or sail out to meet him.
"Amazing how all this new technology keeps sending us back in time. It's like a medieval siege," he complained. Arizona looked over at him between volleys from her main batteries.
"We have plenty of supplies, Andrew. We will win this," she insisted.
"If the enemy didn't have alien barrier technology, I'd be more inclined to believe that," he replied, taking her hand briefly and squeezing her fingers. "Right now the worst thing that could happen is a surprise attack from another fleet. Let's make sure we don't tunnel vision."
"I'll ensure Ark and the others hear your orders," she replied, sending a small reminder to the destroyers and the carrier to keep up their recon efforts.
"Very good, Arizona. I suppose you might as well sit down. This could be a long day."
"So this is your answer, Akagi?" Kaga asked quietly, standing within the Hall of Sculptures with her sister as the distant thunder of shells on the barrier formed a ceaseless drumbeat of war, heralding the enemy's advance. Her tone was not scolding, but one of resignation.
"The Creator found you to be worthy and allowed you to strike at the enemy at Java Sea. If you can do it, then so can I. Or have you discovered a way to craft Zeros from steel instead of wood and are holding out on me?" Akagi snapped, trying not to look too long at the listless faces of Atago, Takao, Ayanami, and Azuma. Now was not the time to wonder if she would end up like them, forever lost to their own world. "Or do you wish to engage their battleships directly, as Hiryuu did?"
"May the gods keep her," Kaga whispered remorsefully. "No, today we are in agreement Akagi. You will go?"
"And you will oversee what remains," Akagi confirmed. "Goodbye… sister."
Kaga watched silently as Akagi stepped into the open chamber in front of her, the brown-haired kitsune's eyes never leaving her. Deciding that was how she wanted to remember Akagi, Kaga nodded and turned away before the seawater finished filling the tank and the matrix activated. Kirishima was waiting for her at the exit of the hall.
"Kaga-sama, what news?" the ninja battleship asked.
"No news, Kirishima. We will either remain holed up here until the end, or Akagi will lead us to battle in a blaze of glory. Whether that will be to victory or ruin I know not. Head to your ship and prepare yourself to meet the gods."
For the first time that she could remember, Kaga saw something like hesitation in Kirishima's eyes. "I only hope Haruna and Hiei await me there, Kaga-sama."
The white-haired carrier placed a hand on her shoulder, an uncommon gesture from one such as her. "I will pray that it be so, my faithful lieutenant. I will be at the temple should Akagi fail, to fulfill my one final duty to Amagi-san."
"Gods watch over you, Kaga-sama. And damn the Creator to hell," Kirishima swore, allowing anger, frustration, and hopelessness to spill from her lips in what she considered her final moments. Somewhere she knew Tester would be watching, laughing. It made her blood boil. Kaga smiled faintly.
"Let us hope our ancestors are in a forgiving mood."
"Are they insane?" Thorson demanded of himself, staring intently through his binoculars. "All ships, hold your fire!"
"Commander?" Arizona wondered as several ships demanded an explanation while nonetheless following the order.
"I need the smoke and debris to clear," he explained, not taking his eyes off the Sanctuary. Their bombardment had continued for just over an hour when the Sakura fleet movements began. Zeros had continued to sortie in attempts to defend against airstrikes, but they had eventually been overwhelmed, allowing Enterprise and Hornet to join in on the 'fun'. "Their air power dropped shortly after the first wave, and I think I know why now. But are they really going to do this?"
"Fusou says yes, Commander. And she advises you to be incredibly cautious," Arizona warned him as the majority of the Sakura fleet sailed toward the barrier separating them from Thorson's attack. At the front of the formation sailed the Akagi, with the Kaga nowhere to be seen. "What do you want to do, Andrew?"
"We call her bluff immediately, that's what," he decided. "All ships, target the lead carrier. As soon as she passes through the barrier, bring her down!"
"With pleasure," Tennessee replied, cracking her knuckles and ensuring Ares was stashed safely under her cap. Pennsylvania radioed Yuudachi.
"You might want to look away, pup. This is going to get ugly." Seconds later the howl of guns returned to the battlefield as every capital ship Thorson had under his command trained their guns on the Akagi. Aircraft dove from on high to add bombs to the mix as Kaga's air contingents proved incapable of fighting off three carriers' worth of fighters made of far more durable material than her Zeros. From her station high atop the tallest island in the Sanctuary's bay, the snow-white kitsune looked on with an impassive mask over her face as her sister's ship was engulfed in smoke and fire, as though the heavens themselves had cast judgment upon her. When the roar finally faded, Kaga closed her eyes sadly.
"Sister…" Her lamentation was cut short, however, as an unnatural sound began to rumble across the battlefield, swelling into a maniacal cackling that had both ally and enemy on edge.
"I am deemed worthy to wield the Creator's power, and with it I shall deliver your final reward, Knight of the Union. Now fall to me!"
Kaga watched as a tornado of bright red flames dominated the battlefield, spitting out flaming aircraft that she somehow understood to be made purely of Akagi's own spirit. The time for questions would be later. "All ships assume formation on Akagi and engage the enemy!" she ordered as another salvo from the Union's battleships was vaporized. Back on the bridge of the Arizona, Thorson was frowning as a report came in from Cleveland.
"Commander, whatever those aircraft are my guns can't scratch them, and I know I'm not missing!" she insisted.
"Understood. Hornet, try ramming them!" he ordered.
"That's the same bitch who killed me!" the carrier replied indignantly, smashing her Hellcats into an oncoming wave of flaming Zeros. The moment of impact had her doubled over in pain as though she'd been punched in the gut. "That hurts almost as bad as that torpedo, but I think it worked. I didn't lose my hat this time either."
"Ark, Enterprise, you know what to do then. We'll find a way to take the heat off. Battleships, keep firing! Cruisers, if we can't touch the planes then train fire on the enemy ships!"
"Commander," Minneapolis' calm voice came to him over the radio. "If she is as powerful as the last battle there will be casualties trying to penetrate her defenses. Let me go alone."
"Minnie, that's suicide!" Portland shouted in protest.
"If she knows what she's doing, let her go," South Dakota advised, already moving to the front of the formation with her barriers to maximum. "This will not end well if they begin firing back in earnest."
"What are you planning, Minneapolis?" Thorson wondered.
"Ignore the ship, hunt the kansen," she replied simply. "There are a few ways I can hitch a ride."
"Authorized. Take her down," the commander agreed immediately. "Make sure your autopilot continues normal operations so they don't suspect anything. Colorado, you and your sisters make sure she isn't hit by a stray torpedo. Everyone else keep firing at Akagi; deploy torpedoes and shift fire to the support ships if they advance further."
"Kasumi, I'll be right over. Get your longest range torpedoes ready please," Minnie requested, diving over the side of her ship and swimming the distance easily, having left her cloak behind. The frail destroyer looked her over as she met her on deck and led her to her forward facing torpedo mount.
"Foo requests that you be careful. He's come to enjoy your company, as have I," she explained. Minneapolis rubbed her affectionately on the head, taking care around her ears.
"All the more reason for me to go and end this. Too many cuties like you are caught in the crossfire between us powerhouses. Just let me take a deep breath and get a running start. See you all soon!"
"Don't die," Indianapolis advised quietly. South Dakota added her own parting words.
"Wind guide you, sister."
"Kasumi, do it now!" Minneapolis ordered, running forward and leaping from the Sakura destroyer's bow as a volley of Type 93 torpedoes slid into the water. She dove and grabbed one by the fin, smiling like a shark as it zipped her undetected towards the Sakura lines. Arizona glanced at Thorson nervously as he shook his head.
"I know what you're thinking, Arizona, but I'm too predictable. I've relied on shields and guns in every engagement. It's time to mix things up, ideally before the enemy backs us into a corner," he explained.
"I trust you, Commander. I'm just worried about her. Even if she gets there I'm not sure it will be easy."
"It won't, but it's what we have for now. Laffey, make sure you're ready with your annihilation mode."
"Yes, Commander. Will you sleep with Laffey if we win? Zed cannot be allowed all the fun, no no."
"You hopped in bed with another destroyer, Commander?" Downes gasped as she raised her guns and fired a volume of shells equivalent to that of a manned cruiser division at the enemy. "Got a bit thirsty now that I'm with Ooshio?"
"What do you mean another?!" Tennessee demanded.
"What do you mean you suddenly care, Belle? Oh… oh my God. You did it, didn't you?!" Downes practically squealed, Laffey's crass request almost forgotten.
"Enough!" Thorson roared before hailing a particular ship. "Indianapolis, what's the status of your weapon?"
"The bomb, Commander?"
"Yes."
"Primed and ready."
"Something is wrong," Kaga muttered, continuing to observe the battle from her vantage point atop the Sanctuary. Akagi had single handedly turned the air power dynamic on its head, rallied a demoralized fleet, and began pressing the attack on the invaders, but the enemy had not altered their strategy at all. The vast majority of their shells continued to rain down at her sister, who parried them with seemingly minimal effort. After a moment of consideration, she allowed her suspicions to be known. "Akagi, they are planning something."
"I should hope so. They are paralyzed with fear!"
"The Knight may be arrogant but he is neither stupid nor fearful! Just be on your guard. We have the upper hand," Kaga advised, racking her brain but coming up blank. It was almost impossible at her distance from the conflict. "Akagi, I'm moving a fighter wing to shore up your left flank. Akagi, do you read me? Akagi?!"
"Of all the tricks I expected, you are something different," Akagi said dangerously as a soggy, waterlogged kansen with chocolate skin and white tribal markings hauled herself onto deck, having scaled the side of her ship with the help of an anchor chain attached to her battering ram-like rigging. "If you wanted to die, all you had to do was wait until your carriers failed. I would have come for you next."
"So you're the one," Minneapolis replied, casually running a hand through her hair as she walked towards Akagi, the towering walls of flames concealing their movements and conversation from friend and foe alike. "For a murderous bitch you're far prettier than I expected. But I don't have time to chat with you. Your reign ends now, fox."
"Bold words from an impotent Union girl!" the kitsune yelled, fanning her arms and tails wide and sending bolts of spirit energy at Minneapolis like shurikens. She dodged some and blocked others with her sizable rigging, slowly but surely moving closer to Akagi as the carrier made her dance and dodge all over her deck. The prideful kitsune did not back off.
"You're mine!" Minneapolis cried as she came within engagement range, hurling her anchor at Akagi and firing off several rounds from her rigging's turrets.
"That's my line," Akagi said quietly, turning and dodging gracefully to one side before drawing a paper fan and using it to channel her energy into a crimson blade that streaked forward, severing Minneapolis' head from her body at almost point blank distance. The kitsune grinned sadistically as the body stood there dumbly, dropping its rigging to the ground as it 'reacted' to the loss of its head before falling forward with a dull thud. She turned back to the battle, triumphant. "And make sure not to bleed on my deck, insect."
"...don't worry, I won't"
"What the-"
"Commander, NOW!" Minneapolis' head shouted from the deck, her body delivering a crushing blow to Akagi's lower back before taking her into a headlock and forcing her to kneel. The tempest of fire dissipated immediately, all the opening Thorson needed.
"Every gun on that carrier! Sink her!" Thorson demanded, his fleet replying in unison as shells that were already in flight impacted on and around the Akagi.
"Well this has been fun, Sakura. But it looks like our meeting, and your life, are at an end. Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee send their regards. They were always the eager ones. Don't feel too bad though. If it had been anyone else you would have won."
Akagi was pushed roughly to the deck as Minneapolis judged the arc of the incoming shells, leaving just enough time to collect her own head and jump overboard. The kitsune was left behind to project whatever barrier her stunned body was capable of as the Union's heaviest firepower rained down on her. She could just barely make out her sister calling for her.
"Akagi, AKAGI! No… no!" Kaga wailed, watching as her sister was consumed by fire. "You can't, that wasn't how you were supposed to die! All ships retreat beyond the barrier! Akagi!"
Kaga ran as fast as her legs could carry her back to the Hall of Sculptures as Sakura lieutenants were suddenly thrust into leadership positions, marshalling routing forces and beating a hasty retreat under heavy fire back within the Sanctuary's protective shield as the Akagi burned and listed slowly in the water, her guns silenced and her aircraft vanished. Thorson's fleet advanced at full steam, a scattered, defensive torpedo screen meaning nothing to battleships with the taste of the deathblow on their lips. It was in that maelstrom of chaos that Kaga found Tester. The Siren was floating before the empty chamber that Akagi had used to harness the Creator's power, a puzzled look on her face. "Hmm hmm, that's a new one. The Empress will definitely want to hear about this one, definitely."
"Where is my sister, Siren?" Kaga boomed, all grace and patience having long fled from her body.
"Where? Why are you asking such silly questions, foxy? When would be a better question, or maybe even what. I don't know. No one's ever been stupid enough to use this thing to project themselves into the same timeline, well except for you of course. I guess stupidity runs in the family. That human commander will get whatever's left of her body, I suppose. We'll let you know what ghosts of this timeline's existence we can scrape together on our end. Or maybe we won't. That's up to the Empress. This was a delightful experiment though! I wonder what will be added to the mix. Will it be her hatred? Maybe her hubris? Or how about her slutty longings? Bet you didn't know that was possible! Hmm, getting a little hot in here, isn't it? Must be those longings."
"Yes, it is rather warm," Kaga whispered, stepping forward as every one of her tails blazed with blue fury. "Did you enjoy your final monologue, pathetic creature?"
"Ah ah ah now foxy, you know the rules. We're partners you see, allies. When you're within this dome you can't- ow, hey that burns, and not like usual! Wait, it's not going away. I'm still on fire!" Her eyes bulged as she stared at Kaga. "You're… stop! Stop this at once! You can't do this to me! We created you! We are your masters! I am your master!"
Kaga's very eyes burned with rage as she watched the object of her desires made real by her own power. "So you can feel fear. You took my sister from me, but there won't be anything of you left in this existence or the next. Now perish!"
"NOOOOOOOO!" Tester screamed as her entire body was engulfed in brilliant flames, searing away her flesh and rigging as she flailed and eventually fell silent. Not even ashes remained as only her cubes were left, glowing a sickly black and red as though her indignation at being destroyed so casually refused to vanish. The kitsune knelt and picked them up, shattering them in her hands as the Sanctuary itself shook and the barrier warped and shifted.
"So I am given one final option then," Kaga whispered as the fury slowly drained from her body and she was suffused by the Siren's power over the installation. "Maybe one good thing will come out of all of this, a final, pyrrhic victory. All ships, retreat within the Sanctuary's limits or you will be destroyed by the advancing force. I am activating the mirror sea."
Andrew Thorson's blood pounded in his veins, though the towering, opaque, otherworldly sphere that concealed the Sanctuary from his fleet's view was but a side consideration. Before him, on her knees on the deck of the Akashi between Minneapolis and South Dakota was the woman he knew he'd been hunting for months, even if her appearance didn't lend itself to villainy. She had a dazed look on her face and blood wept from several wounds on her body that, as he watched, seemed to slowly be knitting themselves back together. He gave silent thanks that he would not have another Hiei situation on his hands. That scarred battleship, along with the other prisoners of war, had been brought out to the deck as well to witness the fate of their commander and leader. Jintsuu was visibly distraught, while many of the others looked sadly at both Akagi and the Sanctuary. Soryuu and Hiryuu wore stone-faced expressions, the former never allowing her gaze to leave Thorson while the latter seemed to be trying to comprehend how Akagi could have possibly been defeated. Many of the Sakura who had joined Thorson's fleet were there as well, including Choukai, Yamashiro, and Fusou.
"So you and the runty cat went and turned traitor?" Akagi finally spoke to the shrine maiden, though her voice was devoid of the sword's edge she'd possessed before the malfunction of the siren technology within the Sanctuary.
"Akashi is not a traitor, nyaa!" the repair kansen protested. "And you are lucky that Shiranui-san is not here right now or she would bonk you for what you've done! You make us serve the sirens and let their Creator gobble up our souls but you call Akashi traitor? No!"
Thorson rubbed her between the ears. "It's over now, Akashi, or it soon will be. Fusou?"
"I have nothing to say to her, Shikikan. The gods have made their will known. She lies defeated, her sister retreats within whatever walls remain to them, and my sister and I live. I need no other satisfaction."
"You would dare say something like that standing next to a Union commander?" Akagi hissed, struggling for a moment against her captors. More than a few barrels and guns were turned her way, including Thorson's own. Fusou regarded her calmly for a moment and then turned away.
"You abandoned the gods, Akagi. I did not."
"You are Akagi of the first carrier division, Sakura Empire," Thorson stated, stepping forward and beginning what he suspected would be neither quick nor easy. He could feel Enterprise's gaze boring through the back of his head. Akagi did her best to straighten her back, looking him directly in the eyes. The two Native kansen restraining her already had her arms close to the breaking point, and she did not tempt fate by trying to burn him. But she did defy him.
"I am, and I will never surrender to you like they did," she promised. "Just do it."
"No. You don't deserve your warrior's death and I need more soldiers in a war against the Sirens. If you do not join me, allowing you to live may convince others. But since you refuse surrender…" Thorson sighed and nodded grimly to South Dakota and Minneapolis, the two of whom forced Akagi to the ground and pinned her there.
"Stop this at once! You cannot do this!" Jintsuu shrieked, finding herself similarly targeted by Union ships. She looked around helplessly. "Akagi-sama…"
With Union boots literally on her neck, all Akagi could do was glare up at the tall, blond haired man as he stared down at her. He waved Akashi over curtly, who went about tugging Akagi's collar just low enough for him to get a look at her rigging mark, a proud feudal castle. Like the walls of that castle Akagi refused to crumble and her shard was nowhere to be seen even as he compelled her to surrender. "We don't have time for this," he grunted, standing and removing his jacket which he wrapped around his left forearm. Tennessee had removed shards forcefully in the past, and it seemed the only option left to him. "Akashi, can you be more surgical about this than a battleship?"
"Akashi will not take pride in this, nyaa, but Akashi will not feel bad about it either," the minty kitty replied, tucking away her blade and going through the various tools that always seemed at the ready just under her sleeves. Thorson didn't know when she'd snatched a scalpel, but he didn't much care either. Even some Union ships with gentler hearts like Arizona and Cleveland turned away as Thorson added the weight of his knee to Akagi's shoulder, moving his protected arm near her face.
"Unless you're incapable of feeling pain, you might want to bite down," he told her about half a second before Akashi began cutting and the carrier screamed in pain. Hiryuu and Soryuu were forced to bodily restrain Jintsuu to prevent her execution via Tennessee, while Enterprise lowered her cap over her eyes and tried to block out the blood chilling screams as Akagi's shard was forcefully exposed, the bright blue crystal surrounded by crimson blood and pale bone. When Thorson reached out to take it between his fingers she bit down on his wrist, and the pain of being in contact with a source of her power burned up his arm, but he persisted, feeling it slowly coming loose as her strength and rage seemed to ebb away. The screams slowly turned to sobs as he finally parted shard from kansen, finding a completely pure, uncorrupted piece of wisdom cube between his fingers. "So you really did do it willingly," he muttered in disgust.
"K-Kaga, Amagi-san, I… Amagi…" Akagi cried softly, finally relenting in her struggle as seven of her eight tails caught fire and burned away to nothing. "I couldn't save you."
Thorson looked at Akashi, who appeared as horrified as he felt, witnessing the woman behind the monster who had led the Sakura Empire's navy to ruin. "Amagi?"
"Her sister, her true sister, nyaa," Akashi stated sadly. "You have heard of her, Shikikan."
"I have," he agreed quietly, finding it almost unbearable to be around Akagi in such a state. Were it not for her transgressions against him, his nation, and those close to him he would have comforted her, but he refused to allow others to suffer on his behalf. "I should have just shot her. Minnie, Dakota, thank you. Return to your ships. All hands prepare for the offensive against whatever the hell that dome of stars is. Akashi, clear a bed in your medical wing."
As his fleet went about fulfilling his orders, well aware that they were still very much in an active combat situation, Thorson picked up Akagi, who had quietly slipped into unconsciousness from the shock and pain. The rest of the prisoners had been herded back to their quarters already, and he was not surprised when Soryuu walked up to him as he deposited her in a bed and watched Akashi clean and bandage the wound to her neck. "I don't remember the last time I saw her face without anger," the carrier said quietly.
"If you are trying to foster sympathy, you're failing," Thorson snapped back. "The last thing I need is another Jintsuu. And I know you can hear me, you damn fox. Where's your faith in her gotten you now?!"
"You have larger problems than an unconscious, defanged carrier and a light cruiser," Soryuu insisted. He glared at her, still furious over the conclusion of Akagi's reign.
"I don't recall you joining my fleet."
"You have cracked the shackles that bind my sisters to the Sirens' will. You and I both want them shattered. I do not need to be a part of your fleet to tell you that," Soryuu insisted proudly, refusing to wilt under his gaze. "With my ears and heels I am taller than you. You do not frighten me."
Thorson remained silent, the only sound between them his quick, shallow breaths as he mentally prepared himself to fight something that defied the known laws of the universe. He turned for the door but thought better of it, pausing to speak to her one last time. "If you know anything about what that barrier is, now is the time, Sakura."
"I know precisely as little as you do, Union shikikan."
"Laffey is rather sleepy now. Goodnight, Commander." Thorson rested his head in his hand as Laffey's quiet snoring played over the radio.
"Colorado, if you would wake her?" He requested, searching for any signs of disruption to the Siren barrier that sat over the sanctuary like a blanket of stars, twinkling at him with some unknown malice just below the surface. "And don't be harsh on her. I've never asked her to fire that cannon twice in a battle."
"Commander, I think it might be the time," Indianapolis suggested shyly. "But we should move back."
"Might as well," Thorson agreed, unsure of what else to do if battleship fire, aerial bombardment, and even two doses of Laffey's annihilation mode were useless against the shield. "How much space do you need, Indy?"
"We should be at least five kilometers away; I would suggest more," she answered in her typical, quiet voice that otherwise gave no hint that she was contemplating finally using the massive bomb she toted around everywhere. Thorson felt sweat trickle down the back of his neck as he contemplated a single munition with such a destructive radius.
"What the hell have I done?" he wondered, remembering the sunny morning when Indianapolis had taken her shards from him. "All ships, full speed astern. We will regroup at a distance of seven kilometers from the target."
By the time his fleet reached the required distance, the sun had begun to set, framing the clear, blue ocean and the haunting Sanctuary with a cloak of golden orange. Arizona took his hand as they looked over the battlefield. "It's rather beautiful, isn't it?"
"It is. Do I dare order this, Arizona? She literally calls it the Pandora weapon. We all know how that myth ended," he worried, allowing himself a moment of weakness in command.
"I don't think we have a choice, Commander, unless we concede defeat to the Sirens and what is left of the Sakura Navy under Kaga," she replied sadly. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, squeezing her hand and receiving a comforting squeeze in return. He took up the radio and gave the order.
"Indianapolis, deploy the Pandora weapon. Your target is the Sanctuary."
"As you say, Commander," she replied, floating out onto her bow. When she was positioned as she liked the giant metal arms that made up her rigging reached below her to grab the bomb, and she touched her feet to her deck gently as she hoisted it into the air above her. The young, caramel skinned woman looked out across the ocean and nodded. "Firing."
Thorson thought he could feel his entire fleet collectively hold their breath as Indianapolis unceremoniously wound up and tossed the bomb into the air at speeds that he could only attribute to kansen anatomy. They waited in silence, losing track of the bomb as it became a speck in the sky and then too small to make out. That was of course until a blinding light flashed atop the Sanctuary and what Thorson could only describe as the gates of Hell opened up before him. "Father forgive me," he whispered, watching with horror through his binoculars as the entirety of the island bordering the Sanctuary was scoured of life, with the dense forests of palms catching fire or being simply flattened by the blast. On the heels of the visual, he could see a shockwave traveling over the water towards his fleet. "Brace yourselves!" he commanded, forced to grab hold of nearby bolted down equipment on Arizona's bridge as her hull shook and an unnatural wind howled just outside the windows.
"Indy-chan!" Portland gasped as they all stared at the mushroom cloud billowing over the Sakura's main base. "Wow…"
"Commander, that did it," Tennessee pointed out, not so distracted by the display that she missed a large tear that had opened up in the field. A roiling mass of light and dark that seemed to shift in impossible ways was left in the wake of the explosion. "I think that might be our way in… to whatever that is."
Thorson divided his forces quickly in his head. "Hornet, Enterprise, stay here. I cannot risk thousands of sailors in there. If I don't make it out, finish the job Enterprise. You'll have the command," he ordered. "Houston, Northampton, Choukai, South Dakota, Kasumi, Asashio, Arashio, Hammann, Minneapolis, I want you all to stay with the carriers. The rest of you… it's your choice. I honestly don't know if we'll ever come back."
"It's not like anyone else can do this, nor would I follow the Union if you died. I'm in," Pennsylvania affirmed immediately.
"T-then I'm coming too, wan~!" Yuudachi agreed nervously. Arizona, Yamashiro, Fusou, the Colorado sisters and their escorts all volunteered as well, along with Cleveland, Indianapolis, and Portland. Downes and Tennessee were practically raring to go, with California only staying behind because Tennessee insisted in absolute terms that she should remain in relative safety. When Ark Royal confirmed that she would join them, along with Akashi who insisted that without her they would surely break down and fail, Thorson's strike force took shape. Before sailing onward he radioed a final order to Enterprise.
"Send word to Union high command if there's no change by morning. If the majority of the Sakura Navy is stuck within that dome then they should end the war, blockade the Empire, whatever they need to do. I trust the rest of you to see it done."
"I understand. Godspeed, Commander," the carrier wished him well, walking out to her deck to witness the sight as her comrades and a handful of individuals she thought she might be able to call friends one day sailed into the jaws of Hell. She tracked them right up to the base of the barrier, when they continued into the wound and out of her plane of existence.
"Your orders, sis?" Hornet radioed, her voice unusually tense and downbeat.
"We do the only thing we can, establish air patrols, ensure local force superiority, wait for the Commander to return, and think about how the hell we explain this to Admiral Nimitz and the others if he doesn't."