Upon hearing the announcement, Gamma withdrew her troops and wasted little time in leaving the city. She momentarily wondered if she could convert that human into a ship or a hybrid but decided against it. After all, this was an important occasion in the war effort and she did not want to keep her leader waiting.
Once she was back on her flagship, Gamma activated the anchor link, transporting her and her fleet to the designated location.
When she appeared at the site, she immediately noticed the two large fleets looming a few kilometers ahead of her. This surprised Gamma as one fleet was more than enough to take care of the enemy. Two seemed like a touch of overkill.
She soon flew towards the ship at the head of the fleet. Gamma spotted two figures waiting for her on the deck and landed there.
"I have arrived as per your orders Lady Omega," she said, bowing deeply.
"Good to have you here with us Gamma," said Omega, "I would have preferred it if we had Beta with us, but alas, that's not going to happen."
"By the way," she said "how are you handling your new upgrades?"
In response Gamma formed her energy fists and smiled at her superior.
"I've taken to them quite well, if I say so myself," she replied.
"No adverse reactions?" asked Alpha, finally speaking up "no sudden outbursts?"
"Well I did have a sudden urge to pound a certain opponent into the ground till her face was mush," she replied.
"After this, we should have you checked out, just in case," said Omega, taking a step forward.
"So it really is the end," said Gamma to herself "Lady Omega, If I may, I suggest that we use the anchor points to teleport in front of the enemy. Not only will that give us the element of surprise, it decreases our chances of being stopped by Alec and his allies."
"I personally don't think that much precaution is necessary," said Alpha "Alec and his group managed to survive for so long because we… I mean I underestimated them. Now that Lady Omega is leading this attack, our victory is guaranteed."
"Think about it," she added, turning to Gamma "the last time she confronted Alec, the group nearly fractured."
"Gamma," said Omega, "if we were to fly instead of teleport, would we reach the base before our opponents do?"
"We would reach the enemy base well before Alec and the others do. In fact, we could even set a trap for them," replied Gamma.
"Good," said Omega with a devious chuckle "then let's take it nice and easy. I want to savor this moment."
"You're welcome to stay here if you like," she added "but once the attack begins, I want you on your respective flagships, leading your fleets."
The two nodded and decided to head back to their respective flagships.
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Meanwhile.
"Can you please not go over so many waves?" barked Bearn into her communicator, chiding the one steering the Defiant.
"Alec, hand me the scalpel," said Bearn, extending her left arm out and Alec did as instructed.
"I didn't know you were a doctor," he said, watching her work
"I'm not," she replied and pointed in the direction of the suture wire "I know our anatomy yes, but right now, all I'm doing is closing up Rossiya's wounds. We may heal a lot faster than humans but without the necessary time, we're in just as much danger as you are."
"Alec," said Intrepid through the communicator "I need you up here."
"Sorry but I need him here helping me sew Rossiya up," interjected Bearn.
"Ask Bremerton to do that. There's a storm approaching and we need to tie down everything we can before he hit it."
"What?" said the pair in shock, followed by the ship violently shaking again.
"Intrepid, is there any way we can avoid the storm?" asked Bearn.
"I wish I could but if we circle around it, we'll take a lot longer to make landfall which puts the Northern Parliament girls in danger."
"If we sail into that storm then they'll still be in danger," countered Bearn, as the ship shook and she grabbed a pair of pliers before it fell off the operating table.
"Alec," said Bremerton, entering the conversation.
"There's something else about this storm that's got us worried. We really need a human's perspective on this."
"Fine," he said, heading out the door "but Bearn needs someone down here to help with the girls."
Alec bounded out the room and up the stairs. The waves routinely crashed against the ship, regularly sending a spray of water on the deck, making it slippery. The last thing Alec needed right now was to stumble on the way there, which was why he held onto the railing to keep from losing his balance.
On the way to the top, he saw Richelieu, Algerie and Jeanne D'Arc. He quickly called out to them and asked that they head down to help Bearn.
Finally, he met with Bremerton, who was standing over a radar, her expression worrying him.
"Alec," she said, noticing his arrival "how do the storms in your world rotate?"
Momentarily caught off guard by the question, Alec quickly snapped out of the daze and answered "they rotate counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere."
"I was afraid you'd say that," muttered Bremerton, while biting her lip.
As much as he had an inkling as to why she asked him, Alec needed to confirm his doubts. He came to the radar and saw what worried Bremerton: a counterclockwise storm in the southern hemisphere.
"All signs point to this thing not being a natural storm," she said to him.
"You think it could be the Sirens?" asked Intrepid.
"Doubtful," replied Bremerton "if they could create weather phenomena like this, they'd have used it on us by now."
"Or it could be that they perfected the device and are testing it out," said Alec "with us serving as the guinea pigs."
He paused when he noticed the troubled expressions the two girls had.
"Sorry," he said.
"Intrepid, I have to ask again, is there no other way around this storm?"
"There is, but we're risking their health," said Intrepid "and from the beating Rossiya took, she needs someplace safe where she can recover from those injuries."
"It's your call Alec," said Bremerton "you know this world better than we do."
Alec wanted to counter Bremerton, saying that there were a lot of things about this world he did not know about. But he did not have the time for that right now, right now he needed to weigh the good and the bad, either he takes a risk and dooms everyone or plays it safe and only dooms a few.
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It had been a long time since she got to show off her powers. Initially, she played a large role in wiping out resistance forces whenever they cropped up, but after establishing the production facilities, she took a back seat, preferring to let her subordinates to the work for her.
However now that victory was in her grasp, there was no need for her to be lax. Against the protests of Alpha and Gamma, Omega left her flagship and descended to the waters. As she hovered above the ocean, she saw the sun rise and smiled.
Now was the time to strike.
Wasting little time, Omega sped up, reaching the docks in merely ten seconds flat. She saw a fisherman seated on the edge of the docks and decided he would be the first. When she was near, she leapt up and before the man realized what was going on, she formed two energy swords and dispatched him in a swift, brutal flourish.
She quietly went past the docks and saw a convenience store that was turned into a lookout post. Omega extended her arm out, changing her sword into a gun and fired a concentrated energy burst at the building. She smiled as she was the explosion wipe out some of the occupants while others were engulfed in fire and tried desperately to put out the flames.
It came as no surprise to her that alarm bells started ringing across the base, indicating that there was an attack. Omega waited patiently and soon she saw numerous soldiers lining up and pointing their guns at her.
They were far from the trailed and seasoned veterans she gleefully butchered during the start of this campaign. They were a militia, no doubt cobbled together in some desperate attempt at restoring order.
With a smirk, Omega raised her hand up and in response, the rest of her fleet slowly made their presence known.
"Oh, you don't have to worry about them," she said, when noticing how the militia had all but given up after seeing the size of her entourage.
"I'm the real threat here," she said, pointing a sword at them "do try and keep me entertained."
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"Can I once again state how against this idea I am," said Shangri-La aloud.
"Noted, now strap in and stay silent," said Intrepid as she sped up the ship and brought the group closer to the storm.
"Any idea what might happen?" asked Alec to Shangri-La.
"Best case scenario, we enter a cleverly disguised EMP field and are forced to push the thing from the outside. Worst case scenario, this is a new Siren weapon and we're pretty much painting a target on our backs by sailing towards it."
"Entering the storm in 3… 2… 1"
"Intrepid," shouted Marblehead on the communicator "steer the ship to the left, now."
Not asking questions, Intrepid did as told turning the ship and avoided the lightning bolt that would have hit them.
"What the hell?" shouted Alec.
"Another one…" said Marblehead, "this time its ahead of us."
Just as she said it, the group saw a lightning bolt strike ahead of them. Intrepid quickly turned the boat and avoided the strike.
"They're not trying to attack us," said Shangri-La "it looks like they're randomly occurring inside the storm."
"Great," chimed in Bearn "as if we don't have enough to deal with right now."
"How is this happening?" asked Bremerton to Shangri-La.
"Weather phenomenon is completely outside my wheelhouse," replied Shangri-La "Marblehead, can you come up top and help me predict where the bolts are going to strike?"
"How exactly do you plan to predict a random event?" countered Marblehead.
"Fine, forget predicting all of them, at least if we can predict the ones that may or may not hit the ship, that'll be enough."
"Alright then I'm on my way," said Marblehead "Reno, I'm leaving the engines to you."
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"Do not give them any chances to escape," said Omega to the other two, who directed their battleships and fired randomly at the base, making it impossible for their targets to predict where the next shot will land.
"My lady," said Gamma "may I deploy the hybrids?"
"Yes," replied Omega, "do not allow any human to escape."
"They thought this place was their bastion. Well, I'll turn it into their coffin," she remarked.
As Omega continued tearing her way through the civilians, her path came to a halt when she spotted a grenade lobbed at her. She did not react in time resulting in it exploding in her face. Despite the attack hitting the mark, her physiology and upgrades allowed her to walk out of the explosion taking no damage.
"So, you were the one that fired at me?" she asked, addressing the old man carrying an assault rifle and wearing a belt of grenades on his chest.
The old man said nothing. His response came in the form of him pointing the rifle at Omega and firing. Omega's speed and enhanced physical attributes allowed her to dodge the bullets and come closer, but what surprised her was that the old man could follow her movement and adjust his attacks accordingly.
When she came close, she swung out with her swords, but he dodged by taking a few steps back. Before Omega could retaliate, he switched to a grenade launcher and fired multiple grenades at Omega, creating a large explosion and prompting her to jump back.
"Odd," she muttered to herself and saw the man reloading and resuming the attack. Rather than dodge and play his game, Omega charged forward, using her sword to deflect the bullets.
The old man tried to get some distance, but his opponent was faster. In a sudden burst of energy, Omega leapt forward and with her two swords, she stabbed the old man in his chest.
"Your movement patterns," said Omega, staring at him "they're similar to someone I knew."
"Is that so?" said the old man with a laugh, followed by him coughing up some blood.
"A decent showing," she said, lifting him up, despite him struggling to break free of her "but you had to have known this was always how it will end."
"I'm an old man, past his prime and got one foot in the grave," said the old man "I lost everything I loved long before you and your ilk decided to attack my planet. At least this way, I get to die on my terms, instead of letting age get the better of me."
"Your own terms?" she repeated, "what's your name?"
"Manfred Wilson," he said, summoning what little strength he had left.
"The last human you will ever kill," he added as he grabbed the grenade belt on his chest and took out all the pins in a single motion.
He intended to blow himself up with Omega in the hopes of causing the Siren leader at least some damage. However, Omega saw what he was about to do and ripped the belt off his chest then flung it away.
"You think I'm going to let you die?" asked Omega, now lowering him down and yanking her swords out of his chest.
He watched as Omega reached into what looked like a pocket and took out a lacquered colored cube which gave off an ominous purple glow.
"Death is a luxury that you don't deserve," she said, followed by the cube letting out a pulse of light
All of a sudden, Manny fell forward and started convulsing.
"Most people who undergo the process don't understand what's happening to them," said Omega, watching him write in pain, not at all minding the sounds of his bones snapping and his body twisting.
"But I'll tell you, I'm generous that way. You won't die, instead you are going to become another member of my fleet."
"That's right," she said, with a gleeful smile "you're going to turn into the very thing you hate and you're going to kill the very people you swore to protect."
Manny let out a fierce and angry yell, using what remained of his left arm to reach out to Omega, but they both knew it was an empty gesture. Once the process started, there was no turning back.
"I thought I killed all of you," said Omega, turning to address a group of soldiers "where were you hiding all this time?"
None of them answered the question. The sight of Manny's body twisting and turning, becoming the thing they hated the most was enough to make most people squirm.
Instead, one of the soldiers removed his helmet and looked at the sky.
"You know," said the black-haired man "I always hoped I would die in some peaceful farm on the countryside under a blue sky."
Seeing this, the others too took off their helmets and looked up.
"Tch, what a shitty setting to remember," said a female
"True," said another man with a Mohawk "but at least we get to go out swinging."
Meanwhile Omega's expression went from amused to slightly annoyed. She unconsciously clenched her fist at the sight of this group. Even with their back against the walls, even with the end in sight, they still fought, they still kicked and screamed against the inevitable.
It brought back bad memories for her. Memories of a defiant battleship who faced her almighty fleet till the bitter end, memories of a battlecruiser who stubbornly refused to admit defeat and gambled everything on a last ditch effort, memories of an enemy whose mere presence was enough to undo all her progress.
The only reason she came back to reality was thanks to the newly created Siren battleship that formed beside her. She looked at her latest addition and gestured for it to join the rest of her fleet.
"You're going to wish you never crossed me," said Omega, turning to the soldiers.
As Gamma continued directing the assault from the skies, her attention drew towards something on the map.
"That's odd," she said, looking intently at a monitor "storms shouldn't rotate like that."
"Is there a problem Gamma?" asked Omega, calmly avoiding her attackers
"It's nothing my lady," she replied "Alpha, I need your assistance."
"What is it?"
"I'm tracking an odd storm coming at us from the southwest,"
"Odd?"
"Sending it to your monitor now."
Alpha was silent for a moment, then saw what Gamma was talking about.
"You're right, this is odd indeed."
"I'm sending a few cruisers and destroyers with you," she added "ensure that this anomaly does not interfere with Lady Omega's victory."
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Shangri-La and Marblehead exchanged worried looks. Alec was about to call out to them when a lightning bolt hit the water near them. Given how they said nothing and how they looked more worried than before, he knew it was something bad.
As much as he wanted to know what was going on, his attention immediately shifted to what was ahead.
"Oh no," said Bremerton, saying what everyone else was thinking.
The sight of their base on fire was enough to make everyone fear the worst. From the large billows of smoke, to the massive fires that were visible even from a distance, this was the worst possible outcome they could imagine.
"All those people," said Marblehead, thinking about the many faces that made up the base.
As they continued to draw closer, Richelieu, Algerie, Jeanne D'Arc all came up and saw the same thing.
"Alec, Alec," said a familiar voice through the ship's radio "Alec say something."
Alec slowly and shakily took the receiver. He wondered what exactly he could say in such a moment
"How many?" he asked and everyone who heard the question turned to him, not wanting to know the answer.
"More than half of the base," came the reply "Alec, she killed Manny."
He could sense the fear in her voice. Right now more than ever, he needed to think. He needed to come up with some brilliant strategy to turn the tide of this situation and bring them victory.
Yet, all he could focus on was Whitney's last words. Manny, a veteran soldier and a close fried to him was now dead, murdered by the enemy.
Of course he would have no time to grieve or reflect on the loss as Shangri-La and Marblehead both noticed a group of ships coming towards them.
Doing what he does best, Alec decided to compartmentalize what he just heard. Instead, he focused on the enemies coming towards them.
"Intrepid, Essex, Shangri-La and Bunker Hill," he called out "I need you to head out and intercept those ships. Give us time to reach the shore."
The four in question simply nodded. One by one they all leapt off the side of the Defiant and headed to the enemy.
"Alec," said Richelieu, wondering what he was thinking.
"Bearn was clear: Rossiya, Chapayev, Tashkent and the others need to get off the ship to recover. We focus on doing that first, then we go after Omega and her fleet."
"Is that possible?" asked Richelieu "the difference in size is staggering. Can we really overcome those odds?"
"Don't worry about it," came the reply "I have a plan."
Feeling a sense of relief wash over her, Richelieu, Algerie and Jeanne D'Arc decided to stay on deck, just incase Essex and her sisters needed help.
"Damn it," shouted Essex through the communicator "Alpha's here and she's leading the ships."
"This day just keeps getting worse," said Bremerton.
"Focus on the primary objective," called out Alec.
"Marblehead, are those lightning strikes getting more accurate or are they getting stronger?"
"Stronger," came the reply "whatever this storm is, it's building up to something and I don't want to be near when it happens."
"Where's it going to hit?"
"Don't know, but I'm working on it."
Just then the ship was hit by enemy fire, sending Alec crashing into a wall while the others struggled to maintain balance.
"Damn it," hissed Bremerton "we can't take another hit like that."
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"Alpha, break off pursuit and return to the fleet," said Omega, much to Alpha's surprise.
The Siren wanted to protest but stopped when a lightning bolt hit one of her cruisers, causing a few fires to break out on the deck.
"What the hell is up with these storms?" barked Alpha "there wasn't any storm here before."
"Whatever it is, you need to link back to the fleet right now," said Gamma "together, we can erect a barrier and protect our ships."
She watched as her opponents drew further and further away. Alpha was tempted with the idea of pursuing them, but given how strange the weather was acting, she decided not to risk it.
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"Hello Alec, we meet again," said Omega
"Stay behind us Alec," said Richelieu, as she, Algerie and Jeanne D'Arc came forward and formed their weapons.
Omega however, didn't seem that interested in the trio. Instead she spotted the few unconscious Northern Parliament girls and smiled.
"Are you sure you're in a positing to attack me right now?" she asked "I could simply avoid you and take out those Northern Parliament girls."
"And if we try to get them to safety, you'll just stab us in our backs," said Algerie, pointing her mace at Omega.
"What if I told you I wasn't?" she asked and everyone understandably did not believe her.
"Look around for you a moment," said Omega, pointing to the burning buildings, the pile of corpses, the pillars of fire and the billowing smoke.
"I've achieved my goal here, why bother wasting my time with any of you, when I have a fleet to do the job for me?"
"I just wanted to see you all one last time, before my subordinates send you to your doom."
With that said, Omega slowly rose to the sky and after reaching a sufficient height, she took off, heading back to her flagship.
"I really hope your plan is a good one Alec," said Richelieu.
"It is," he said, "we'll make our stand here, destroyers and cruisers in the front, battleships and carriers in the back."
"I need to get something from the ship, I'll be right back," he added.
Richelieu wondered what was so important that Alec left behind on the ship. As the girls took their positions, Reno, Bremerton and Casablanca took Rossiya, Pamiat Merkuria and Grozny somewhere safe.
Meanwhile Marblehead and Bearn brought up a holographic projection of the immediate area.
"Not a lot of room for cover, and we're outnumbered here thirty to one," said Marblehead "this is as tough as it'll get."
"Marblehead," said Bearn, lowering her head "you know that… there's a chance…"
"Yeah," said Marblehead. As much as she wanted to believe in Alec's plan, the fact that some of their heavy hitters were injured and they were facing overwhelming odds, made the outcome pretty clear to her.
"But if we're going down, let's take as many of them with us as we can."
Nodding with a weak smile, Bearn suddenly noticed something moving.
"Hold on a second," she said, looking at the dot leaving the island and heading to the Siren fleet.
"That's the…"
"It's time I tell you the plan," said Alec, speaking through the communicator and addressing everyone.
"The plan is to run," he said, and the girls didn't believe what they were hearing.
"Alec, what do you mean?" asked Richelieu who was most affected by his words "we have to stay and fight, we have to help the humans…"
"Humanity is done for," he barked "all this time I thought that we stood a chance, I thought that if we kept at it, then we could actually defeat Omega, but now I realized what an idiot I was for believing that."
"So instead of having you all go out like martyrs, I'm going to buy you time to escape," he said.
"Escape and do what?" asked Bremerton.
"Go back home. This isn't your war, this isn't your fight. You should go back home, I'm sure a lot of your friends are waiting for you."
"To hell with that," shouted Gangut, "Alec I'm coming over there and…"
"Don't you dare," he shouted, the sudden rise in his voice was enough to stun everyone.
"You have done… more than enough for me. From saving my skinny ass countless times to pulling me back from the brink when I had given up hope. Even if I had the rest of my life, I could never pay you back for everything you've done."
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"Would you look at that?" said Omega to the other two "there's a ship charging towards us."
"How stupid," said Gamma, then paused. "My lady, we're getting a transmission on an open channel, shall I put it through?"
Omega's response came as a simple nod.
"You haven't yet won Omega," said Alec, causing her to let out a condescending chuckle.
"Is that so? Do elaborate."
"You said you wiped out humanity, well I'm still here. And as long as I'm here, will come at you with everything I have."
"It doesn't matter how long it takes or how many times I have to try, I will not stop until I've wiped the Siren menace from this planet."
"He must be crazy," stated Alpha, "to boldly declare your intent while coming towards us all on your own? What is he thinking?"
"So that's how you want to go. Very well then, all battleships: target the ship coming towards us and fire."
The many battleships at her command did as instructed. Their barrels zeroed in on the Defiant and began firing. Alec meanwhile, did his best to steer the ship and avoid the attacks, but the sheer intensity of the enemy barrage made his fate a foregone conclusion.
As the trio watched the ship try to get near them, they noticed more and more lightning bolts spawning around them. In response, Gamma formed a barrier around the ships, ensuring their safety.
Just then, Omega, Gamma and Alpha noticed a particularly large lightning bolt hit the waters a little way away from them. Considering that that bolt was much larger than the others, Omega immediately turned to Gamma for an explanation.
"It is nothing to worry about my lady," said Gamma "according to my calculations, this anomalous storm was building up to something and we just saw what it was. Now that that bolt struck, the storm will dissipate."
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Meanwhile on the Defiant, Alec could hear alarms ringing all around, meters turning red and the sound of the girls begging and pleading with him to turn around and come back.
A sudden explosion threw Alec to the ground, but he quickly stood back up and continued steering the ship.
Fires started breaking out all over the ship, steering became increasingly difficult, more alarms rang throughout the area, but Alec didn't stop.
'Funny,' he thought 'I had this really cool one liner ready for when I was about to die. But for the life of me, I can't seem to remember it."
"Ah well, that's just how it is…"
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Bearn and Marblehead froze when they saw the dot disappear. They immediately looked up in the hopes that it was a glitch or something, but all the saw was a large volume of water rising to the sky, indicative of an explosion.
"No," said Bremerton, cupping her mouth, tears forming in her eyes.
"Damn it Alec," said Gangut, hitting the ground with her fists, "why did, why did you…?"
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"Confirmed hit," said Gamma "target is down. I repeat target is down."
"Excellent work," said Omega "now, let's resume our extermination."
"My lady, what about those other girls?" asked Alpha "they're sure to lash out against the death of their ally."
"If they're wise they'll make his sacrifice count and leave from here. If not, they'll attack us and we wipe them out. Either way, our victory is assured."
Her plan was a complete success, now all she needed to do was watch in silence as her fleet now focused on finding any survivors and wiping them out.
However what Omega didn't notice, what Gamma and Alpha didn't notice was that while they were busing taking out Alec, something else happened on the battlefield: something that none of them could have predicted.
For every great plan, for every carefully constructed trap, there is always a chance for things to go awry. This is what's known as the monkey-wrench, a term used to describe how something small and seemingly insignificant could derail even the most carefully thought out plans in history.
Why is this important you may ask? Because while Omega and her fleet now focused their attention on razing the base, none of them noticed that seven unknown entrants had made their way to the battlefield, their approach hidden by that large lightning bolt at the end.
Who were these seven unknowns? They were the monkey-wrench to Omega's plan.
(AN: Yep, the story's wrapping up now)