Alec laid out the plan for the girls. The mission would divide the group into three teams with the callsigns sword, spear, and shield.
Sword team comprised of the Northern Parliament and they were the face of the offensive. They were to launch a head on attack against the Siren leader, prompting her to divert her forces and focus on them.
Spear team consisted of the Iris Libre. Their job was to take advantage of the distraction and climb the mountain, locate the bombs, remove them and use them on the Sirens instead. As much as speed was of the essence here, it was equally important for them to keep a low profile. If they were spotted, Gamma could easily detonate the bombs and drown the girls in a sea of lava.
Shield team comprised of the Eagle Union. While the other two teams were busy on attacking the enemy, they were to find the survivors and bring them back to the Defiant.
If everything goes according to plan, Gamma detonates the bombs and blows up her ships in the process. Meanwhile the tree teams meet up and together they launch a concentrated attack on the Siren hybrids effectively preventing them from reaching the Defiant and sending it to the bottom of the ocean.
Based on what the girls told Alec about the hybrids, he estimated that it would take the robots at least thirty minutes to reach their objective: meaning time was of the essence.
"Alright everyone," he said "let's get this done as quickly as possible and get the hell out of here fast."
The girls nodded and one by one, they started heading out the door.
"And don't you worry about Alec," said Andrew, while patting Alec on the back "I'll keep your friend safe and sound."
"Ah by the way Alec," said Marblehead, coming to him. She extended his hand to and gestured that he do the same. In response, she dropped a small device into his palm.
"This should help you stay in contact with us during the operation," she said "I would have made one sooner, but the tech here is pretty…"
"Thanks, I appreciate the sentiment," he said, putting the earpiece in his right ear.
While he did that, Marblehead gave a very slight nod to Rossiya and Richelieu, as if passing a message.
Alec watched them teams head out in separate directions then ran back into the building and ran up the stairs.
"Um, what are you doing?" asked Andrew, following him.
"I need to keep an eye on the fight and make changes as necessary," he replied "Shield team and spear team should be fine but Sword team has to deal with Gamma and from what I hear, she's a pretty cunning opponent."
"Alec, this is Rossiya. Say nothing and just listen to me," she said through the communicator. Alec wondered why she'd say something so ominous but agreed with the request.
"You need to get as much distance from Andrew as you can," she said, and Alec momentarily turned back only to see Andrew was just a few seconds behind him.
"We have reason to believe that Andrew is not who he says he is," added Marblehead "the evidence paints a worrying picture."
Alex's silence was enough of a sign for the girls to continue.
"Essex, go ahead," said Marblehead.
"The first thing that caught my attention was the timing of it all," she said "Andrew just happened to miraculously show up just when we were about to be overwhelmed by those Siren hybrids."
"The second thing I noticed was right after we got into the truck and drove away, our enemies stopped pursuing us," added, Essex.
"I mean those things had the speed and power to dodge Rossiya's cannon barrage and our dive bombers. There's no way they'd have trouble catching up to the rinky-dink dust bucket we rode in on."
"There's something else I noticed about the hybrids," said Bearn. "While we were busy ducking, dodging and fighting our way to the truck, I noticed how some of them had on torn clothes or were wearing on a necklace."
"By now Alec reached the rooftop door and slowly opened it. Slowly and carefully he crept outside, all the while keeping some of his attention focused on the person behind him.
"Like I said at the start," said Marblehead "the pieces fit together, but there's a lot of holes in there as well. We have no way of knowing if Andrew really is on our side or not."
"Look, I understand you have every reason to be cautious right now but you're all jumping to conclusions," he said dismissively.
"But…"
"Is something wrong Alec?" asked Andrew.
"Nah, nothing to worry about," he replied "just airing out a few doubts, that's all."
"Spear team has reached the objective," said Richelieu "we're starting with our part of the plan."
"Same with Shield team," said Bremerton "we found the place Andrew mentioned and are about to enter."
"Alright team, on my mark, 3, 2, 1…"
But before Alec could complete the countdown, he saw multiple explosions occurring on the side of the mountain.
"What the?" shouted Richelieu through the communicator "they weren't supposed to…"
"What the hell's going on?" shouted Bremerton, "damn it, we're surrounded on all sides… we have to…"
"You know," said Andrew, as he walked towards Alec "the way those girls spoke about you, I half expected you to be some super genius strategic mind."
When he was close, he took out a pistol, pulled down the safety and pointed it at the back of Alec's head "but in the end, you barely live up to the hype."
Alec slowly turned around, the colour draining from his face as he looked at Andrew, shocked by his words.
The only words that came out of his mouth were an understandable "why?"
"Come on Alec, don't play dumb with me. I'm sure an egghead like yourself can put the pieces together."
Given the shock of his betrayal, Alec was understandably finding it difficult to figure out why he did what he did. But when he took a moment to calm his mind, the answer became fairly obvious.
"Did they offer you a deal?"
"Bingo," replied Andrew "the moment my team made contact with those hybrids, we were pretty much done for. One by one they mowed down every member of my squad with little to no effort at all. Then, when I was the only one left, I was damn near ready to accept my fate. But instead of killing me, Gamma gave me this chance. She'd spare my life if I could bait you and your team into a trap."
"All I had to do was make it sound like I was in trouble and I knew Manny would send out his best soldiers in a heartbeat," he added "once you arrived, everything else fell into place."
"As we speak, the hybrids are no doubt tearing your team to shreds."
"Oh don't look at me like that Alec, I did what I had to do in order to survive. You would have done the same thing."
"No I wouldn't," he said, shaking his head.
"To each their own I guess," he said with a shrug "any last words?"
Alec was wracking his mind trying to figure out a way out of this mess. Yet with the potential loss of two groups and Andrew's betrayal still fresh in his mind, it was impossible for him to think of anything else.
Just as Andrew was about to fire, they heard numerous explosions occur in the direction of the Shield team.
"Ah, guess there were some that managed to survive the initial strike," he mused.
"You could say that," said another voice, catching them both by surprise.
Before Andrew could turn around. Essex gave him a backhand to the face, sending him flying over the roof.
"I have Alec," said Essex, grabbing him and putting him on her shoulder as she leapt off the building and landed on the ground.
"What the hell is going on?" shouted Alec
"Things seemed too coincidental and convenient," replied Essex "and when something like that happens, chances are you're walking right into a trap."
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Bremerton fired a point-blank barrage into a hybrid's chest then threw its body at another one that was about to pounce on Reno from behind. The latter started firing her hand cannons at multiple targets, allowing Cooper to grab the heads of two hybrids and crash them together with devastating results.
"We decided to play a hunch," said Bremerton "we make it sound like we're nearing our objective to see how Andrew would react. If he was the turncoat we all thought he was, he'd spring the trap, but if he was on our side, then all we'd have to do is apologize for not trusting him."
"Shame it turned out the way it did though," said Bunker Hill, as she, Shangri-La, Intrepid and Casablanca used their planes to provide cover fire, allowing the other members of the team to attack the hybrids.
"So then you're all…"
"Yep," replied Richelieu "alive and well."
"Then we need to head to the Defiant," said Alec "everyone, drop what you're doing and head back to the Defiant, now."
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"Unfortunately, it's not going to be as easy as that," said Rossiya.
With everything going on, Gamma decided to take the initiative and attack the Sword team, conjuring up her phantom soldiers to attack them, while her ships in the air provided an extra defensive layer.
Pamiat Merkuria, Tashkent, Minsk, Chapayev and Grozny attacked the soldiers head on, while Rossiya and Gangut fired on the ships.
It did not take long for the four girls to reach the same problem Bremerton and the others in the Eagle Union dealt with when they faced Gamma. For every one soldier they take down, two more take its place.
A Siren battleship fired at Rossiya and Gangut, but the pair dodged the attack by leaping in different directions. Just as Gangut was about to fire back at the battleship, she saw a group of phantom soldiers coming towards her.
She quickly shifted attention and took out the phantom soldiers with a barrage.
Rossiya meanwhile took advantage of this opening and fired at Gamma, only to have a few phantom soldiers take the fall for her instead. The Northern Parliament's leader failed to see the Siren planes coming for her and paid for it when they dropped their payload on her, covering the area in numerous explosions.
"Rossiya," shouted Gangut, but could not go to help her friend as she was busy dealing with an intensified attack from the pesky battleships.
Rossiya meanwhile swept away the smoke around her, revealing a few cuts and scrapes on her arms. Rather than attack the aircraft carrier, she turned her attention towards Gamma and fired at her. Though her attack was blocked by more phantom soldiers, Rossiya did not let up.
She charged at Gamma, all the while firing at her. Though none of her attacks came close to harming the target, it did expose a small chink in Gamma's otherwise impenetrable armour.
While the Siren was capable of summoning a near endless supply of proxy fighters to do her bidding, there seemed to be one major constraint: there was a time delay for how long it took to have one phantom soldier replaced by two more. When one soldier fell, the time delay is almost non-existent but when half a dozen fall, the time taken to revive more is noticeable.
Rossiya's logic was simple: if she could take out enough soldiers in a single strike, she'd create a wide enough opening that would allow the five girls to close the distance and take Gamma out. And her plan was working. As she drew closer and closer, Gamma threw more soldiers at Rossiya, making it easy for her to take them out and increase the time it took to summon more.
The group of Minsk, Chapayev, Grozny, Pamiat Merkuria and Tashkent quickly caught on to what Rossiya was doing and used this as the chance to get closer to Gamma. Gamma was so focused on trying to stop Rossiya, she failed to notice her other attackers closing the distance.
Chapayev wasted little time in ramming her fist into Gamma's face, sending her crashing back. Tashkent took advantage of this moment and used both her bear claws to gram Gamma and fling her into the ground multiple times.
As she did that, Minsk, Pamiat Merkuria and Grozny fired at her from all sides, making it nearly impossible for her to break free. Tashkent noticed one of the battleship cannons about to fire on them and quickly informed the others. The group broke off their attack and leapt away before the cannon fired on their position.
Now joined by Rossiya and Gangut, the girls noticed Gamma rise to her feet, while her cellular regeneration quickly closed up her injuries.
Then, in a move that surprised everyone, the Siren tossed aside her book and let out a piercing yell. This was followed by her forming two energy fists above her head and charging at the group. In response, the girls fired at her but that did little to stop her advance.
When Gamma was close enough, her energy fist shot forward, crashing into Grozny and sending her into Pamiat Merkuria. In response, Chapayev came close and attacked with a barrage, but Gamma leapt aside avoiding the attack. Gamma rammed her fist into Chapayev's stomach knocking the wind out of her as a result. Tashkent flung both her bear claws at Gamma, who moved to the side and avoided them. Tashkent took this opportunity to charge at Gamma with a straight, but to her surprise, Gamma caught her attack in mid-air. Wasting little time, Gamma rammed her leg into Tashkent's body, sending her flying back.
The Siren turned her attention to Rossiya, who chose to meet her head on, rather than attack from a distance.
Rossiya started her attack with a jab to the face, but Gamma tilted her head to the side and dodged it. The Siren retaliated with a straight jab but Rossiya leapt back avoiding the fist then leapt to the side and avoided Gamma's energy fists.
However, Gamma predicted her opponent was capable of such a feat, predicting where she would land and was waiting for her. Caught off guard by this, Rossyia could not avoid a fist to the face, causing her to stagger back. She tried to retaliate but found that both her hands were held in place by Gamma's energy fists.
"Any last words?" she asked. Rossiya's only response came with a swift kick to the face, causing Gamma to spit out some blood.
Gamma wasted little time in landing blow after blow on Rossiya's body. Gangut and Minsk tried to stop her but Gamma's entourage let out a steady barrage to keep them at a distance.
With every blow she landed, a wave of pain echoed through Rossiya's body. Her vision started to fade, her eyes were getting heavy. She knew that if she closed her eyes now, it would most certainly mean the end for her, which was why she struggled to remain conscious.
Seeing her opponent bruised and broken, Gamma released Rossiya from her grasp, causing the woman to fall to her knees. Gamma arched her right fist back as much as she could. Rossiya tried to form her weapons one last time but found that she was in too much pain to do so.
Then, just as Gamma was about to strike, she was instead hit with a fist to the face, courtesy of the Iris Libre's leader.
"Damn you," shouted Richelieu in a rare display of rage at the sight of her severely wounded comrade.
Gamma tried to recover in the air, but Richelieu was faster and grabbed her by the neck before landing two punches to the face and one to the chest. If that weren't enough, she formed her cannons and blasted Gamma at point blank, sending her crashing into the ground.
Meanwhile, Bearn used her planes to distract the ships, allowing Jeanne D'Arc to cut a sizable enough hole in the side of the battleship. Algerie and La Galisonniere stood on the runway of the enemy carrier and charged at the planes to keep them from taking off. La Galisonniere used her axe to cut a hole in the carrier's deck, while Algerie's mace continually battered each plane that came in her way.
"Hey Rossiya," shouted Gangut, while Richelieu carried her "say something, speak to me damn it."
"Get the others," said Richelieu to Bearn, who immediately went to help Minsk pick up Grozny, and Pamiat Merkuria.
"Gangut, where's Tashkent?" she asked, but saw that her friend was more focused on her barely conscious friend.
"Gangut," she yelled, which snapped her out of her trance. Recalling Richelieu's question, she turned around and ran to where Tashkent was, quickly helping pick her up.
"Richelieu, Richelieu," said Bremerton through the communicator "Richelieu, what's going on?"
"We need to get the hell out of here, fast," said Richelieu, just as Gamma rose up from the ground. She now not only summoned her soldiers but also formed her energy fists, looking like she was ready to continue.
As much as Richelieu wanted to pound Gamma's face into the ground for what happened to her friend, that would have to wait. Right now, getting out of here was the priority.
"We've cleared out the hybrids that were headed to the Defiant," said Bremerton "what about you?"
"We're on our way over," she replied. "Bearn, distract Gamma."
Bearn sent multiple airplanes at Gamma, hitting her from all sides and preventing her from getting closer to the girls. Richelieu and the others used this moment to quickly get some distance between them and Gamma.
It didn't take long for them to reach the ship and when they did, the girls immediately put the injured on the lower decks, where they'd be safe. Intrepid started the boat and took off almost immediately.
"Marblehead," said Gangut, turning to her "what's going to happen to her?"
"As long as we don't hit any waves on the way, I can at least close up some of her severe injuries," replied Marblehead, putting on a pair of surgical gloves and getting ready "but she needs medicine and rest, which we can only get when we go back home."
"What about the others?" asked Gangut.
"Bearn is taking a look at Chapayev," she replied "thought not as bad as Rossiya, I imaging she'll recover soon enough. Grozny, Pamiat Merkuria and Tashkent took a beating, but they'll recover too."
While Reno, Bremerton, Gangut, and Richelieu helped Marblehead and Bearn tend to the wounded, Alec made his way to the decks and looked at the city they were running away from.
Thanks to the various victories they achieved, he genuinely thought that they could beat Omega and stop the invasion. Yet, this mission was a sobering reminder that their opponent outclassed them in every way imaginable.
All it took was one mistake, one simple lapse in judgment and now five of his friends were severely hurt, with one fighting for her life.
The weight of this realization was a sobering reminder to Alec. If his enemy actually wanted to, they could annihilate him and the girls without much effort.
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Back in the city, Gamma was now standing atop another of her ships, watching the Defiant sail further away.
She opened her right hand, which displayed a holographic image of Omega.
"Lady Omega," she said, bowing to her "our enemy is on the ropes but managed to escape. With your permission, I would like to pursue and finish them off now."
"There won't be any need for that Gamma," said Omega. Looking understandable surprised by the response, she looked at Omega expecting an answer.
"Though that human failed to kill Alec, he did at least achieve his secondary objective," said Omega "I'm sure you're aware that the human gave up a number of secrets in order to prolong his lifespan."
Gamma simply nodded in response.
"One interesting nugget of information was the location of the resistance forces," she said and Gamma's eyes opened wide.
"Rather than pursue them, I want you to meet Alpha and I at the marked location."
"My lady, does that mean?"
"Yes it does," said Omega with a wicked smile "we're going to wipe out humanity, once and for all."