"Where did she go?" Isaac asked.
"I've lost her, but I have memorized her signature, Commander. When I find her, you'll be the first to know." Helena said as Isaac looked out at the massive fleet approaching them.
"Well, girls. Looks like the enemy has shown their hand. We no longer need to be so guarded now that we know what we're up against. You are free to engage any targets you can hit. Vestal and Bulins, you guys are on repair duty, anyone who needs it, help them." Isaac ordered as he scanned the fleet.
"Commander, I can't seem to identify my vessel." Warspite spoke as she scanned the fleet with him.
"Well... that one's new. Try rotating a turret." Isaac offered, watching the new battleship react to Warspite's will.
"That's impossible." Warspite gasped.
"What is?" Isaac queried as Enterprise's CIWS system deleted any rockets that would have caused problems for the fleet.
"That is a Vanguard class Battleship hull." Warspite spoke as Isaac eyed the name painted on the side.
"It's HMS Warspite. No matter the hull, it has your name on it." Isaac said.
"You don't understand, HMS Vanguard was made in this exact design. I have never seen HMS Vanguard before in my life." Warspite spoke.
"It seems Her Majesty may have seen something akin to the blueprints and it translated to a potential Retrofit." Isaac said.
"'Her Majesty'? Was she not your friend?" Warspite asked.
"She was..." Isaac spoke with an ever-present sadness.
"I see. Respectful, humble, and a go-getter. No wonder she liked you." Warspite said as she put a hand on his shoulder.
"Warspite. Return to your vessel and join in the assault. We shall mourn the deceased when this battle is won." Isaac said as his attention was turned to the Shinano, where a rogue Siren bomber had made it passed Enterprise and the fleet's protective AA, and had dropped several bombs onto the Shinano's flight deck, detonating the fuel depot and the singular Zero that she had attempted to get into the air to help.
"Shinano!" Isaac yelled.
"Nnng." Shinano groaned slightly in her slumber as Akagi and Kaga sat next to her.
"Dear sister, the bombers are getting through." Kaga spoke softly as she looked over Shinano.
"So they are. Shall we?" Akagi asked as she looked at Kaga, who was more than eager to react.
"To To To." Kaga said as the girls stood and ran out of the room and towards the flight deck of the Shinano.
Once on the flight deck, the two Kitsune scanned the sky, seeing more bombers weaving their way through the AA bubble towards them.
"Tora! Tora! Tora!" Akagi spoke excitedly as the tips of her tails ignited in a blood red flame that she captured in her hands before throwing skyward, unleashing a blistering wall of flames and lead towards the incoming bombers. Kaga responded in kind, her tails igniting a bright blue.
The incoming wing of aircraft glowed orange as the flames from the Kitsune melted the plating that made up the airframe, sending them falling uselessly into the ocean.
"What is going on?" Isaac asked as he watched the mystical flames erupting into the sky from the Shinano.
Two pillars of flame, one red and one blue, shot skyward as the foxes of Carrier Group one took over for Taka and the other men who were manning the AA.
"Do not fear, Shikikan. The Might of Carrier Group One will protect this fleet here and now." Akagi's voice came in over the radio.
As if challenging her statement, the CIWS system on the Enterprise ripped the sky asunder as it tracked and shot down another barrage of rockets.
"Us Union Girls aren't as big a slouch as we were 4 years ago, Akagi." Helena spoke in response to Enterprise's display.
"Helena, this is not the time for rivalry. We have been united under the banner of Admiral Garner, let us all work together to achieve his goal." Enterprise shut down the would-be inevitable fight with a simple statement.
"R-right..." Helena replied to the now vastly overpowered Union Carrier.
"Although, Enterprise, I would love a rematch." Akagi spoke in a sultry tone.
"Maybe when this war is over and we can live the way we want, until then, I have work to do." Enterprise said as her Skyraiders danced between the beams of lead streaming from her CIWS systems.
"So you do... always so stuck up." Akagi sneered as a torpedo, coming from a now spotted Drone Submarine, hit the hull of the Shinano.
"I am trying to sleep..." Shinano's voice wafted gently from the island of the colossal carrier.
The submarine, however, did not care that Shinano wished to rest in her altered state and instead fired several more torpedoes that slammed into Shinano's hull, causing minor flooding as the torpedoes had finally cracked Shinano's torpedo belt.
"Uh oh..." Akagi and Kaga spoke softly as the hull below them vibrated with a mysterious, otherworldly power. Out at sea, blue glowing butterflies rose slowly from the waves surrounding the fleet.
"My little one, shall not be harmed by such trifling attacks." Shinano spoke, her voice now as clear as thunder in a storm as she walked between Akagi and Kaga on her flight deck.
"Little one?" Akagi asked as she looked up at Kaga, who returned a curious look.
Both Kitsune of Carrier Group 1 looked at the Yamato Class Carrier before them as she summoned her rigging in the midst of a rising storm of blue butterflies. Shinano breathed before opening her eyes, now glowing a brilliant yellow as she unsheathed the swords of her rigging and stabbed them into her deck in a circle around her.
Aboard the Norfolk, Isaac watched as glowing blue butterflies rose from the ocean below. One passed his eye and behind it, he saw a little girl with 9 black tails and rigging reminiscent of Shinano's.
"What the hell?" Isaac asked softly as he saw the little girl look at him, smile, and mouth a word that rang in his head.
"Papa!"
Isaac took a step back as he heard Shinano's voice among the wind.
"You may damage my vessel, and you can hurt me, but my little one shall not be harmed. This Dreamwalker's Bow shall see to that." Shinano spoke as the butterflies halted their ascent and moved rapidly towards the Carrier before forming into a spinning vortex of wind and wings.
"What the..." XIV spoke as she saw the vortex of butterflies rising in the rear of Isaac's fleet.
"Empress never mentioned this before." XIV reasoned with herself as the Vortex of butterflies grew larger and more formidable.
"It was Zero. Zero was in charge of researching that carrier. Sink her! Sink her now!" XIV ordered her fleet, watching as the vortex 'exploded' sending blue butterflies in a massive wave across the sea and sky alike. In what seemed like an instant, the vast majority of her forces were wiped out by the wave of butterflies that erupted from the seemingly defenseless carrier.
XIV was about to move again when the butterflies impacted her shields, followed quickly behind by a massive volley of shells by the main fleet.
"I don't know what Shinano did, Commander, but I now have a strong Radar confirmation of the strange signature from before. I have already updated the coordinates and sent them to the fleet." Helena said as Isaac turned his attention away from the fading image of the black tailed girl, who mouthed one more thing before disappearing.
"See you soon, Papa."
Isaac shook his head.
"Alright girls, break defensive formation and go on the attack. Their forces are dwindling and we have a chance to end it here and now." Isaac said before looking to three members of his fleet.
"Azuma, Friedrich, Roon. You three follow Helena's coordinates and hunt down the ring leader... and kill her." Isaac spoke as the three girls looked towards the Norfolk.
"It will be done, Dear husband." Friedrich spoke.
"As you command. Please watch over the little one for me." Azuma replied.
Roon remained silent until she emerged, covered in oil, from the inside of her third Drone Battleship.
"I will avenge my friend!" Roon roared angrily as she immediately set off towards the coordinates that Helena had sent. The moment she left the drone ship, it went up in a tower of flames as the damage done took it's final toll, sending the battleship to the bottom.
"Commander, should we inform her that I am no longer dead?" Warspite asked.
"We will, but she is sinking ships without a vessel and running on nothing but rage and anger, even if we were to tell her, I doubt she would be able to comprehend until the battle is over. Let's let her get revenge." Isaac suggested.
"Well... I can't say I approve of the dishonesty... but I understand the reasoning. So be it. Thankfully you requested that the leader be executed at sea, because I doubt Roon could bring her in alive in her state." Warspite spoke.
"My point exactly. That said... Ark, Enterprise, Richthofen, you three are to cover our assault team. Follow them and aid where possible." Isaac ordered as he watched Enterprise run down her flight deck and jump onto the canopy of a launching F2G Corsair, taking out an incoming squad of Siren Aircraft with the .50 caliber machine guns before climbing into the sky to link up with Richthofen.
"Such brutes." Ark Royal said as she launched Spitfires and Swordfish to chase after her two assigned squad mates.
A soft meow was heard behind Ark, who turned and picked up the black and white cat that had been awoken by the sounds of battle.
"Oscar... or do you prefer Sam?" Ark asked, choosing the name Oscar as the cat reacted only to that name.
"I see. Well I am sorry, Oscar. I cannot help that the sounds of battle have awoken you from your nap." Ark spoke as she scratched the back of the cat's head.
"Ark, who are you talking to?" Bismarck asked.
"An old friend of yours, Bismarck." Ark said. A meow came through the radio, momentarily confusing Bismarck.
"An old friend?" Bismarck asked as she tried to remember.
"We called him Unsinkable Sam. But this little feline seems to want to come back to his rightful home." Ark Royal said.
"Feline?" Bismarck thought aloud before realizing.
"OSCAR?!" Bismarck cried as her main batteries took out a drone carrier with ease.
"Yeah, this little guy came to me some time after you sunk. Didn't seem to like me much. I think he knows that my planes are what led to you sinking." Ark Royal said.
"Oscar..." Bismarck spoke, her voice full of emotion unlike anything Ark or Isaac had heard before.
"Ark, before you get too involved in hunting the Siren, would you send Private Oscar over to Bismarck? His homecoming seems rather overdue." Isaac requested, shaking his head and trying to make sense of the day he was having.
"Of course. I shall head over immediately." Ark Royal said as she scooped up the cat, who hissed angrily in her arms as she jumped to the waves below.
Isaac was about to turn for the rope ladder when a familiar voice called to him.
"Shikikaaan!" Mutsuki cried as she jumped out of the water and into his waiting arms.
"Mutsuki?! What are you doing here?!" Isaac asked.
"Azumama was showing me the ocean in ber..Bur..burr..." Mutsuki tried to sound it out.
"Bermuda?" Isaac asked.
"Yeah! Azumama was showing me the ocean in Bermuda when we got sucked up into a big purple light and wound up here. Azumama told me to come to you since she is going to fight." Mutsuki explained.
"I see. Well, let's you and me get somewhere safe. Norfolk has a lot of work to do." Isaac said.
"Who is Norfolk?" Mutsuki asked.
"Oh, you haven't met." Isaac said as he turned and walked towards the bow of the Norfolk, where the Kansen of the same name was standing.
"You're still here, Isaac?" Norfolk asked as she turned and was greeted by Isaac holding a feline destroyer.
"Isaac... who is she?" Norfolk asked as she eyed the destroyer carefully.
"This is Mutsuki, Sakura destroyer." Isaac said as Mutsuki waved before clutching Isaac's suit.
"Well... that's a shock. I didn't think such a small girl could be a warship. Where is her vessel?" Norfolk asked.
"Shikikan didn't give me one after I lost it, but that's okay. I don't like to fight. I like spending time with Azumama and Shikikan." Mutsuki answered.
"Isn't she precious?" Norfolk asked as she smiled at the destroyer.
"Mutsuki and I are heading to the Vengeance. Will you be okay commanding this section?" Isaac asked.
"I will. Although, I need someone to watch Zero. Too many bombers were getting through so I can't let my guard down again." Norfolk said.
"Alright. I guess the bulin and I can keep her in check." Isaac said as he looked at Mutsuki.
"Who is Zero?" Mutsuki asked.
"Observer Zero. A siren." Isaac said.
"Shikikan caught a Siren?" Mutsuki asked as the sounds of returning fire became less and less as the remaining enemy fleet was slowly mowed down, and reinforcements were destroyed before even firing a single shot.
"Not me personally, but Graf Zeppelin did." Isaac said.
"Graf Zeppelin is scary looking." Mutsuki said as she looked at the Ironblood carriers.
"If you think Zeppelin is scary, you might like Richthofen a little more. She's dressed like a soldier." Isaac said.
"Really? She's like Oite-san then!" Mutsuki said.
"Oite?" Isaac asked.
"My sister, Shikikan." A voice said as Isaac turned to see Kitakaze behind him.
"Ah. Kitakaze." Isaac said as Kitakaze looked at Mutsuki in shock.
"How did you get here?!" Kitakaze asked as she ran over to Mutsuki.
"Azumama and I were on her vessel when the scary purple light brought us here." Mutsuki said softly.
"Oh you sweet thing." Kitakaze said as she rubbed Mutsuki's ears.
"Can you help us take Zero to the Vengeance?" Isaac asked.
"Of course. Let's go and get her." Kitakaze said with a small salute.
"Son of a bitch." XIV spoke as she dodged and weaved, her cloaking long since gone since she no longer had a fleet to hide her.
"Finally~~~" Friedrich's voice came from her left.
"What?!" XIV cried as Friedrich's rigging slammed into her shields, sending her flying into the waiting sword of a hyper focused Azuma. The first layer of her shields were slashed to bits by Azuma, as her speed and peerless technique proved too much for XIV to counter with her rigging.
XIV was recovering from being tossed around by Friedrich and Azuma when her spine nearly froze solid from the presence of glowing amber eyes.
"You killed my friend..." Roon growled, sending a chill down Azuma's and Friedrich's spines.
"Your friend got herself killed fighting for that man." XIV argued, her snarky personality sealing her fate.
Roon walked over to XIV without so much as a sound, and threw a hook that decimated the second and third layers of XIV's shields, while also sending the Siren flying back into the sinking hull of a drone carrier.
"Roon?" Azuma asked, keeping her distance from the unhinged heavy cruiser.
"Mein Kind, are you alright?" Friedrich asked, seeing the blood coming from Roon's fist through her steel gauntlet.
"She must die." Roon said as she advanced on the sinking Drone ship.
XIV looked to the sky, seeing Enterprise and Richthofen flying above, a large force of dive bombers following closely behind.
"Subject E. If I die here, my legacy will be cemented by killing you!" XIV yelled as she turned the guns on her rigging to the sky and fired a powerful blast of plasma towards the incoming Corsair. Shells slammed into her last layer of shields, proving quite incapable of penetrating her tough exterior.
"She must die." Roon's voice came over the radio in Richthofen's cockpit. Richthofen freed her BF-109 of its canopy and stood in her seat.
She looked down at the battle below and saw ships firing on XIV from almost all directions, but her final layer of shields proving far too hard to penetrate.
Richthofen thought back to something Otto had told her as the sirens blared before the assault began.
"Take this cube. If you find yourself needing, my dear daughter, the Kommandant believes that this may be our salvation. Crush it in your hand and make it's power yours."
Richthofen took the cube from her breast pocket and looked at it. It glowed brightly, as if wishing to become one with her. It was then that she saw XIV shoot a beam of plasma at Enterprise and her corsair.
"I am Manfred Von Richthofen. Queen of the skies..."
"Does anyone else hear... an orchestra?" Isaac asked as a dread inducing melody began to play throughout the battlefield, causing Mutsuki to cower behind Isaac and Kitakaze.
"... and you hold no power in these skies." Richthofen finished, crushing the cube in her hand, turning it to dust.
Back aboard the Richthofen, the rear end of the flight deck began to glow as racks began to appear. Isaac watched as the rear plating of the flight deck opened and several V1 rockets lift from some unseen storage and be loaded onto the racks.
"I am Manfred Von Richthofen, and you have accosted me greatly by daring to claim any form of dominion over MY skies. Now you will suffer the consequences." Richthofen spoke as she shouldered her rifle and shot, knocking the plasma beam away from Enterprise with a high powered burst of her own.
Back at her vessel, the rockets of the V1's fired and launched a volley of 20 V1 rockets in sequence, aimed at the only target Isaac could think of.
A wicked grin crossed Richthofen's face as XIV looked to the sky in horror.
"Probieren Sie Ihre eigene Medizin, Schlampe!*" Richthofen yelled as all 20 rockets found their mark, devastating what remained of XIV's nearly impregnable shields before shattering them, leaving XIV with nothing.
Isaac saw this and monopolized the opportunity.
"All ships, open fire with everything you got left! Kill that bitch!" Isaac yelled after covering Mutsuki's ears.
Roon, Azuma, and Friedrich showed no hesitation in following through with Isaac's orders, using their rigging to batter the siren mercilessly until there was nothing left behind except for the black cubes used to make up her being.
Isaac looked out over the battlefield. The remnants of drone ships slowly sank below the waves as XIV's Mirror sea disappeared, along with her signature on Helena's radar.
"The threat has been neutralized." Helena said cheerfully, her main guns finishing off a lone destroyer drone.
"Good. Everyone, return to port after dispatching any further enemies. Be on the watch for submarines. We will get in contact with Australian command to see where we need to send ships to help fend off the inevitable follow up attacks on the undefended cities and ports." Isaac said as his fleet returned to Brisbane under the setting Australian sun.
"What of our transfer of Zero?" Kitakaze asked.
"We shall do it in port. We need to get repairs under way and lock down the surrounding ports before we can leverage our predicament into gaining an army for the invasion of the Philippines. So... let's just take things one step at a time." Isaac said as he looked over at the new Warspite, seeing the Kansen knelt on deck with what Isaac could clearly see was Elizabeth's crown and baton.
"We all have wounds to heal before we move on..." Isaac muttered as Norfolk sailed back into port.
* German translation for "Try your own medicine, Bitch/Slut"