Warspite's sword was pointed at Isaac's neck as soon as he spoke the name.
"You... how did this happen?!" Warspite growled angrily.
"I DIDN'T WANT THIS EITHER!" Isaac yelled furiously, pushing his neck against the sword hard enough to send a line of blood rolling down the blade. Warspite, shocked by the sudden transition of emotion, took a step back, slowly pulling the blade away and allowing Alice to rush over and tend to Isaac.
"What... what happened?" Warspite asked, still a bit shaken by Isaac's outburst.
"You died, or you should have. But... Zero told us there was a chance that you could be saved using the cubes of a sister from your class... and Lizzie was the only sister in your class. She wouldn't take no for an answer." Isaac explained, his voice a mixture of rage, pain and sadness. Warspite looked at him.
"You called me 'Your Highness.' Why?" Warspite asked.
"Queen Elizabeth has fallen, and her cubes now are infused into your body. As her right hand, and heir apparent to her cubes... you, by default, are now the leader of the Royal Navy." Isaac deadpanned as she noted the blank stare on his face.
"So... she's really gone?" Warspite asked.
"She is. And there wasn't a damn thing I could do to stop her..." Isaac said.
"Then let us win this battle in her memory. As the new head of the Royal Navy, I refuse to let this battle be our last." Warspite spoke boldly as she helped Isaac to his feet.
"You still got anger in there, Commander?" Warspite asked, knowing full well she was the equivalent of a child poking a bear with a stick.
"No survivors. I want XIV executed and her rigging mounted on the wall in the Pond." Isaac growled.
"Then you shall have it." Warspite spoke as she shouldered her sword.
"Isaac, take it easy..." Alice spoke softly as she rubbed his hand.
Isaac drew his sidearm and racked the slide as Zero reappeared back in the from of the door, causing Alice to jump and Warspite to summon her rigging. Four turrets in a double configuration appeared behind her, forming something akin a throne when combined with the pieces of her hull and the arms holding it all together. Two horns adorned her head in front of the radar device on her back. Her hips were graced with smaller secondary guns and her hands now held a bigger sword than before.
"I ordered you to the cargo hold. Was this your plan?! Surrender to get into my fleet and then turn on us?!" Isaac asked as he walked forward, seemingly against the will of Warspite and placed the barrel of his gun against her head. The entire room went silent once more. The only sounds, aside from breathing, were the explosions and splashes coming from the battle outside.
"I... I found something that might help..." Zero spoke softly.
Isaac glared at the siren with the same intensity as he stared at Oceana as she died on her torture table.
"Speak... If it's not worth my time, you die here." Isaac spoke darkly.
"This." Zero spoke as she presented a fairly large black pyramid to him. It was about the size of a regulation basketball and was pitch black with small red lines snaking across the surface.
"What is it, and how will it help us?" Isaac asked, his tone unchanged.
"You might not understand it, as it is our tech... but this is what XIV is using to generate her Mirror Sea. This is the device all Sirens use to generate Mirror seas." Zero spoke, causing Isaac's eyebrows to shoot up to his forehead.
"Where was it?" Isaac demanded.
"In the cargo hold. I told the girl guarding me that this could help." Zero spoke, shaking slightly at the cold gun barrel still pressed against her head.
"And Norfolk didn't tell me you were coming? She wouldn't be so reckless." Isaac said.
"She tried, you never answered." Zero spoke.
Isaac looked at Zero skeptically.
"Norfolk, report." Isaac spoke into his helmet, putting it to his ear to hear her response.
"Please tell me you didn't shoot her." Norfolk spoke frantically.
"I haven't yet. Are you alright?" Isaac asked.
"Yes. I sent her up to explain it." Norfolk reasoned.
"You should always be with her. She could have done god knows what." Isaac said sternly.
"I understand, on my way now." Norfolk spoke as she dropped the line.
Isaac looked at Zero.
"How will this device help us?" Isaac demanded.
"If I use it to create our own Mirror sea, I can use it to bring in reinforcements... like Enterprise." Zero spoke.
"Enterprise?!" Isaac asked, clearly surprised.
"Anyone you have, I can bring in via a mirror sea. I just need the general area." Zero spoke softly, tears forming at the fact that Isaac had not removed the gun from her head.
Isaac noticed and pulled the gun away. A few seconds later, Norfolk appeared and trained her rigging on Zero to keep her in check.
"What would the cost be?" Isaac asked.
"A cube. Pure if you have one... but knowing the things you're capable of, you have plenty..." Zero said dejectedly as she handed the pyramid to Isaac, who struggled to hold it.
"Jesus... what is this thing made of?" Isaac asked as he placed the device on the table that Warspite had been on mere minutes earlier.
"Are we going to trust her?" Warspite asked.
"She has yet to lie to us... and she'd have been long dead if she had pissed off Zeppelin. We're losing this battle. We might be at a stalemate right now, but we're only able to keep going for so long. We will tire, and we will fall." Isaac said. As if the universe was rushing to prove his point, a call came in over the radio.
"Isaac, the fleet is beginning to take damage from the enemy attacks. Our shields are beginning to fade and shatter. Our cruisers are losing AA power due to fatigue and more aircraft are getting through. I'm sorry, but I don't know how much longer we can hold out." Odin spoke frantically.
Isaac looked at his watch.
"10 hours we've been at this. A war of attrition. Zero..." Isaac spoke as he turned to the siren.
Zero looked at him with fear in her eyes.
"Niue, Fiji, New Guinea, Bermuda, and wherever you expect Enterprise to be. You open the mirror seas and bring who you can catch. Let them know that this is at the behest of Admiral Isaac Garner. Do it, quickly. Pending your success, you will be transferred to the Vengeance so she can do as she wishes." Isaac spoke, earning a slow nod from Zero.
"Norfolk, make sure it's done." Isaac demanded as he put his helmet back on and looked to Warspite.
"Let us get you to your vessel, Warspite. It looks like the fleet is in need of help." Isaac said as he walked with Warspite to the top deck of the Norfolk.
"My dear husband. I am sorry to have failed you when you needed me the most." Akagi spoke softly as she sat anchored off the edge of the cliff on the south side of the island of Niue.
She looked off of her flight deck into the surf, seeing nothing but foam crashing against the sheer rock face. The red on the rocks long gone.
Akagi shuddered as an unknown feeling washed over her.
"You have been summoned by Admiral Garner. Please do not resist and prepare for combat." A ghostly voice spoke as a Mirror Sea enveloped the Sakura Carrier and whisked her away.
Mutsuki squeaked happily as Azuma lifted the feline destroyer high into the air and sat her gently on her shoulders.
"Wow! I can see so far now, Azumama!" Mutsuki squeaked as she took in all her familiar sights from an all new vantage point.
"I know where we can go so that you can see even further." Azuma said happily as she took in the feeling of acting like a mother.
"Where? Where?!" Mutsuki asked excitedly.
"Well, my vessel of course." Azuma boasted slightly.
"Really?!" Mutsuki asked as she bounced a bit on Azuma's shoulders.
"Yes. Yes. Come along now. I wonder what we will see." Azuma said as she stepped foot onto her vessel.
Azuma's eyes narrowed and her spine tingled as a feeling she had never felt before passed over her.
"Azumama... I'm cold..." Mutsuki said softly as Azuma lifted the destroyer down to the deck.
"Get inside, now." Azuma said as she looked around, searching for the source of the feeling. Mutsuki scampered to the superstructure and closed the door as a ghostly voice graced Azuma's ears.
"You have been summoned by Admiral Garner. Please do not resist and prepare for combat."
Azuma summoned her rigging and drew her sword, the freshly sharpened blade gleamed in the dull sun of Bermuda as her vessel vanished from the docks right in front of Spee, who had been watching Mutsuki play.
"Tirpitz, come in!" Spee shouted as she ran towards the radio room.
"What is it?" Tirpitz asked.
"Azuma has vanished into a mirror sea." Spee spoke as she jumped the steps two at a time.
"What?!" Tirpitz asked as the sound of her jumping from the desk was heard over the radio.
"One second she was sitting there, the next she was gone. I don't even know when the mirror sea formed." Spee explained as she saw Tirpitz emerge from the radio tower.
"Raise the base to red alert and try to get Admiral Garner on the line." Tirpitz ordered.
Perkins awoke in the captains quarters of the Kaga next to his lovely wife of the same name.
"Good morning my love." Perkins spoke softly as he petted the soft white fur on her ears.
"Nng... Husband, I know my ears are soft, but they are also sensitive, please keep that in mind." Kaga groaned as she turned to face him with a soft smile on her face.
"I told you to call me Jack." Perkins spoke as he poked Kaga's cheek.
"I know, I just like to tease you every now and then..." Kaga spoke as she suddenly sat upright.
"Kaga?" Perkins asked.
"Jack, hold onto something." Kaga spoke as she felt a chill roll down her spine.
"Kaga, what's wrong?" Perkins asked, his voice slightly panicked.
"We're being sucked into a Mirror Sea." Kaga explained shortly as a Ghostly voice filled the room.
"You have been summoned by Admiral Garner. Please do not resist and prepare for combat."
Helena sat on the bow of her vessel looking over the port of Suva.
"Whatcha doing up there, Helena?" Yukikaze asked as she looked up at the blue haired Union Cruiser.
"I'm just wondering how my sisters are doing. I know Phoenix and St. Louis came here with the Commander, but I never got to see them long enough to ask about them." Helena said sadly.
"I'm sure they're doing great! Yukikaze the Great is a lucky destroyer and if she say's that they're fine, then they must be fine!" Yukikaze said in a voice she hadn't used in a long time, trying to get a smile out of Helena.
Yukikaze felt better knowing she succeeded when Helena's smile came through the blue disheveled hair.
"Such a funny destroyer. It's a shame that you had to endure what they did to you." Helena said as Yukikaze jumped onto her own vessel.
"Yukikaze the great is strong and lucky. My luck got me through, nanoda." Yukikaze spoke proudly as both girls froze and looked at each other.
"Yukikaze isn't feeling so lucky anymore." Yukikaze said as she and Helena both heard the same message before disappearing into a mirror sea.
"You have been summoned by Admiral Garner. Please do not resist and prepare for combat."
"We're only four days out now, Enterprise." 2nd Lt. Good spoke.
"Aye. I can only hope that XIV's forces are being held back sufficiently." Enterprise said as she looked to the sky.
"Something wrong?" 2nd Lt. Good asked.
"I only wish I were faster. To be able to assist this Admiral in his fight and finally obtain the peace I have longed for since Pearl Harbor four years ago." Enterprise said.
"It hasn't been easy for you, has it, Enterprise?" 2nd Lt. Good asked.
"The weight of the world rested on my shoulders after Midway. We were the main force pushing forward in the Pacific. So our victory rested on me." Enterprise asked as Griim screeched from his perch on the island.
"What's going on?" 2nd Lt. Good asked.
"Mirror Sea. We should declare General Quarters and get any sailors that are on the flight deck below deck, yourself included, Second Lieutenant." Enterprise spoke as a ghostly voice graced her ears.
"You have been summoned by Admiral Garner. Please do not resist and prepare for Combat."
Isaac watched in awe as the battlefield seemed to freeze over. He had emerged onto the deck of the Norfolk and was thrust into a scene of utter Chaos. Roon had left the docks without her vessel and had used her rigging to skate out beyond the battleship shell and had been steadily tearing into a heavily painted drone battleship after the apparent loss of Warspite. Several ships in the fleet were smoking, including the Shinano, who had take an AP bomb through her shield and a detonation on the flight deck, causing a fire that was actively being fought by Taka and his small force of men.
"Commander, look." Warspite said as she pointed out to the six massive purple orbs growing out of the ocean.
"What is it?" Isaac asked.
"Those are the opening points in the mirror sea." Zero spoke, causing Isaac to spin on his heel and jump back a few feet.
"You need to learn to announce your presence sooner. This is the third time I have almost shot you today." Isaac snapped.
"Sorry, Isaac. I should have said something." Norfolk spoke as she looked out at the growing orbs.
"Admiral Garner?" A voice came through Isaac's helmet.
"This is him, who is this?" Isaac asked.
"Large Cruiser Azuma. Care to explain this?" Azuma asked as Isaac spotted her vessel appearing from one of the six orbs.
"It looks like our experiment worked. As you can see, we're in a bind. Could you lend us aid?" Isaac asked.
"I shall... but I do believe that I will have questions after this battle has ended." Azuma said as the loud crack of her guns rang out, the shells slamming into the painted cruiser drone to her direct front, causing a detonation and sending it to the bottom.
"Who all did we get?" Isaac asked Zero.
"I don't know. I opened six in places where my intel said there would be potential allies to your cause." Zero spoke.
"Six? I only gave you five." Isaac spoke sternly.
"I had intelligence that there was a cell of resistance in the vicinity of Gibraltar, so I opened one there." Zero spoke as a voice came over the Radio.
"This just won't do, Admiral Garner." A mysterious, almost ethereal voice spoke.
"Who is this?" Isaac asked, not recognizing the voice.
"These two poor destroyers have been battered beyond belief. It's a shame that you left them so poorly defended. Nary a worry however. I am here now. I shall defend them." The voice spoke as Isaac ran towards the stern of the Norfolk. Isaac froze when he saw three carriers now sitting beside the Shinano. Two he recognized as the carriers of Carrier Group 1, Akagi and Kaga. But the third was one of British design and the flight deck emanated a wispy blue smoke. Zooming closer on his visor, Isaac could see a woman clad in armor looking like a musketeer standing firm as Fairey Swordfish and Spitfire fighters took off from the flight deck. Isaac's shock peaked when the woman opened her eyes, unveiling a bright glowing pair of blue eyes.
"Darling?! Why is Ark Royal here?! And Why does she look like that?!" Eagle cried from her position in the carrier group.
"Ark Royal?" Isaac asked.
"That would be me, Admiral Garner. Let us finish this battle and then we can talk." Ark spoke as her fighters joined up with Richthofen, who had fished herself out of the drink and was back in the air leading the fighters from the carriers under her command.
"Look out!" Norfolk yelled as she threw herself at Isaac, summoning her rigging to defend from incoming rockets. Isaac braced, but the explosion never came. A sound Isaac couldn't identify overpowered the rockets as any further incoming rockets exploded mid flight in a hail of red bullets.
"What the hell?" Isaac asked as he looked out the carrier from which the bullets were coming from, seeing a design he had never seen before.
"All conditions green, Enterprise, engage." Enterprise's voice came over the radio.
"Enterprise?" Isaac asked.
"Admiral Garner I presume?" Enterprise asked.
"Y-yeah." Isaac sputtered.
"We will talk, but for now, we fight." Enterprise declared as her Skyraiders took to the sky, joining up with Richthofen and joining her in her bombing runs.
"Mysterious Radar signature detected towards the center of the enemy fleet. Sending coordinates to the fleet." Helena spoke as coordinates popped up on Isaac's visor.
"Fuck it, looks like this is where we sink or swim, all ships, aim for the following coordinates and fire, we may have found the ring master." Isaac spoke as all the battleships in the front aimed up and fired at their new target.
Shells splashed down around XIV.
"What?" XIV wondered aloud, checking her rigging for paint from the bombers that had been flying above her AA capabilities.
"How?" XIV asked as her shields were assaulted by a second salvo from the Battleships in Isaac's fleet.
"I don't know how you found me, but you won't find me again." XIV said as she undid her cloaking on the fleet, unveiling the hundreds of ships she still had at her disposal to throw at Isaac.
"Try to find me when you're dealing with this." XIV spoke as she retreated further into her fleet to plan her next move.