"Empress, are you alright?" The voice of Temperance spoke from Empress's rigging.
"No. I am very far from alright. Subject E has escaped with the tech I infused. She's gone off to join Apollyon. Considering the damage done to Pearl Harbor... or lack there of, she's saving whoever she can to bolster his forces." Empress admitted as she tended to the cuts she had received upon facing off with Enterprise.
"Do you think we could set her off again?" Temperance asked.
"Are you insane?! If we do that, she jumps ahead again! What happens if she takes control of the hull from 2028!? We'll be destroyed almost instantly." Empress yelled.
"No. Don't go forward, go back. If we can remove what you put in, it should result in the same shockwave that took out the Kansen before." Temperance explained.
"It doesn't work like that. This time, there would be no blast or shockwave. We have to begin forming a counter strategy to this new Enterprise." Empress said as an odd looking siren appeared next to her.
"Empress... I may be of some use to you." The siren said. Empress looked and saw a snow white siren with squid rigging.
"Enforcer XIV: Designation Purification. If I remember correctly, you serve Temperance directly." Empress spoke as she examined the mysterious siren before her.
"That is correct. Please just call me XIV for simplicity's sake. As I was saying, I may be able to help." XIV spoke softly.
"Continue." Empress ordered.
"My rigging renders anything under my command to be completely invisible to radar and the naked eye. It also allows the waves created from our travel on the seas to be negated, meaning we can just appear right in the middle of Apollyon's fleet without him being any the wiser." XIV suggested.
"Normally, I'd be all for it. But if he catches you, you'll receive even worse treatment than that Oceana did." Empress said, showing a rare glimpse of compassion for her allies.
"It's my job to attack our enemies. VIII and myself are merely tools to be used." XIV spoke.
"VIII? I do not believe I have heard of that one before." Empress said.
"Strength has kept her under lock and key, as her abilities are more... dangerous than mine." XIV explained.
"What do you know?" Empress queried.
"She controls gravity within a given area. So if she were to get within battle range of his fleet, they would have to adjust to a much different gravitational pull, and while they are attempting to do so, her forces can gain the upper hand." XIV explained.
"That would be quite the strategy. Even with her upgraded hull, Subject E would be unable to use her aircraft to sway the battle." Empress pondered aloud.
"You would have to convince Strength to release her. She seems unwilling to do so as of late." XIV spoke.
"Why?" Empress asked.
"I believe it comes from the fact that Strength took to training VIII herself. I suspect the bond they formed made Strength rather protective over VIII after the Video we received from Apollyon." XIV spoke.
"Well I have need of her, damn it. I am the Empress! She will do as I command!" Empress yelled.
"I'm going to stop you right there, Empress." Temperance said sternly.
"What?" Empress asked.
"The three of us are ALL Arbiters. You aren't the leader. You hold no authority over myself and Strength. If She does not wish to use her own assets, she has no obligation to do so. Forcing, or attempting to force her to do so, could result in one or both of you dying, thus freeing your section of Earth from Occupation." Temperance said.
Empress scowled.
"Then what should we do?! Enterprise is far too big a threat now that she's escaped. I can't leave to fight her, and neither can you or Strength. Apollyon is amassing power at an alarming rate since Tester has been unable to land a decisive blow!" Empress roared.
"Then why don't we begin updating our mass produced forces? Tester's modifications to the battleships forced Apollyon to call in heavy bombers to deal with them." Temperance said.
"Is that how he managed it? Where did he find those?" Empress asked.
"He's holed up in Australia, Empress. Remember we couldn't take that country?" Temperance spoke.
"Ah... why was that? Surely we could have done something." Empress said.
"The resource drain was too much. Although, now we can attempt it again with XIV at the forefront." Temperance suggested.
"Upgrade our aircraft with stronger armor and heavier ordinance. Once that is complete, assemble an invasion fleet. We'll plow through Apollyon and take the last vestige of freedom on this planet... maybe then the humans will see that they have no choice but to surrender to us." Empress said as XIV disappeared and work began on upgrades to the siren fleet.
"Isaac!" Norfolk yelled as she busted open the door to his quarters the following morning.
"Hmm? Norfolk, what is it?" Isaac asked as he rubbed his eyes.
"All three leaders of the Sirens... they've begun something... something big. All three of them are outputting an enormous amount of energy." Norfolk explained.
"Can you tell for what purpose, three leaders of the siren Hierarchy active at once, this could mean trouble." Isaac spoke as he was suddenly wide awake.
"No. Something is keeping me from digging deeper. All I know, is that those three are active. We can't do anything more since the fleet has already been raised to red alert." Norfolk said as she watched Isaac get up and get dressed, leaving Friedrich still half asleep in bed.
"Recall the subs. I don't want them out there with this going on. What is the status of the Vengeance?" Isaac asked.
"They are putting the finishing touches on the hull as we speak. She should be ready for synchronization later this afternoon." Norfolk said.
"And 13?" Isaac pondered.
"Her hull is ready for launch. She wanted to wait for you before launching." Norfolk said.
"Let's go. We need to get the fleet back to full strength. Send an order to Otto. I need more cubes. Radio Vestal and have her confirm the status of our injured. If there is anyone too injured to fight, I need them taken away from this port, somewhere safe." Isaac said.
"With all due respect, Isaac. This place... is the safest place in the world. We're barely holding on to what islands we took. We don't have the manpower to occupy anything without full support from the locals." Norfolk said.
"Shit... Tonga should be okay. Fiji should be as well. New Guinea is a tossup because we were forced to eradicate any resistance, which included locals that the Sirens turned to their cause. So we might have sowed animosity in New Guinea. Send a plane towards New Guinea to get a report from Perkins. We need intel in light of all of this." Isaac spoke.
"Orders have been relayed. Richthofen has just took off towards New Guinea." Norfolk said as they heard a plane leave the airspace.
"Get us to the dry docks. I have a line of ships waiting. Have repairs been made to the fleet from our last battle?" Isaac queried.
"Yes. All non-retrofit work has been completed. All turrets have been repaired, hulls sealed and repaired, all deck plating has been replaced. Everyone is condition green. Texas, Australia, Elizabeth and K-9 are all waiting for a space in dry dock." Norfolk reported.
"Good. Do we have the materials needed for Texas's retrofit?" Isaac asked.
"Yes. The Bulins have completed all necessary equipment to completely overhaul the Texas to modern day standards. In addition to her new guns, loading system, and turrets, the Bulins also made upgraded Boilers, a precise fire control radar, more efficient propellers to deal with the extra 6 inches of belt armor. They also made high power motors that fit into the barbettes to help assist in turning the new turrets, making her response time better when needing to change targets." Norfolk spoke.
"The new gun system would require a whole new redesign of the hull. After working with her this long, I realized how bad that could go if we just slapped those guns on her." Isaac spoke.
"We use the cubes. We'll use them. It would be faster to have her will a vessel into being what she needs to accommodate all of these changes." Norfolk said.
"Excellent." Isaac said as they emerged on deck.
"Elizabeth is also waiting to receive her vessel, but the Bulins must reconstruct the matrix. It was destroyed after our last round of vessel building." Norfolk said.
"Alright. Let's get 13 out of Drydock then get Texas in. We don't have long before whatever hit Pearl gets here. Maybe a week at most, if it's sailing normally." Isaac said.
"Understood." Norfolk said as they ran across the port towards the drydocks.
Author's note. /Spoiler Warning/
Hello Everyone. This might begin to get a bit confusing if you haven't played Operation Siren and paid attention to the story being told. So I will attempt an explanation here. XIV, as introduced in the story, is the Enforcer that serves the Arbiter Temperance. She has the ability to jam TB and radar as well as cloak the mass production ships in optical camouflage. While she is not too difficult to beat in game, I plan on making her a pain in the ass for Isaac and his fleet. Japan and the Philippines will have to wait until Isaac either repels the assault, or is forced to retreat under the crushing advance of the Sirens, who have been reinvigorated by the escape of Enterprise in her new OP form. VIII is very much the same, except she serves Arbiter Strength and has control over gravitational fields in her AO. Also, I know that the lore of the game has stated that there is an even greater enemy than the sirens, that the Kansens and Sirens need to team up to defeat. Until I get more information, I will not be including these mysterious super enemies to this story. Hopefully this has cleared some things up. If not, please leave a comment if reading on Reddit or write it in a review so I can answer it in the next chapter if reading on Fanfiction. Thank you all for 166 chapters of support. I honestly have no words for how much it means to me that you all seem to enjoy what I put out. Thank you again. Titan out! (til tomorrow)