Midway's voice echoed out through the area as she raised her rigging, a squadron of A-1Ds appearing behind her.
Midway's rigging was an imposing sight. She had a pair of long flight decks, one on either side of her, that could fold in the middle similar to those of the Essex class. Each side was bristling with a powerful AA armament, raised to the sky, and behind her was her ship's bridge and smokestacks.
The most unique factor, however, were two pieces on either side of the deck that folded out to form a bow shape. As they did, channels appeared in the middle of the decks where a glowing spear of energy formed. The newly formed Ballista, acting similarly to Enterprise's longbow and Essex's crossbow, aimed for the sky, and fired. Midway stepped to the side as her planes began to launch, and she leapt onto the waves to lead the counterattack.
Martinez watched from the inside of the base, thinking back to what he had been told while being trained as an officer.
"Lead from the front, they say…"
He knew the nature of said front, and its effect on the statement. So, he continued to watch. Midway's presence alone as she carried out his orders seemed to have a bolstering effect on the other union ships present. Their guns fired faster, they seemed to shrug off even direct hits from the enemy attackers, and she sent squadron after squadron over the horizon to where the enemy carriers were hiding, as Shangri-La and August's own fighters suppressed the Siren's air cover.
Meanwhile, towards the front of the defensive line, Agir and the two Helenas watched as Midway's air wing passed over them.
"Looks like the air sweep is about to be over. Shall we continue, Agir? It seems safe to pass." Helena scouted ahead using her radar.
Her relaxed demeanor not waning, Agir responded. "I suppose so. I never got to work with dedicated radar cruisers before, you know."
"Really?"
"Ja. Normally I just sail towards the enemy and trample whoever tries to get in my way while August watches me from the sky. It's a welcome change of pace."
Helena META nodded. "A storm is at its strongest when it can be directed. Shall we continue?"
Her two companions nodded, and they sailed on, the hull of the Friedrich Der Große looming a few hundred meters away.
It was not long until they came across another arm of the enemy force, already battered by Midway's airstrike.
"I always forget just how accurate she is. Nothing like Enterprise…" Helena mused.
"The difference being?" Agir inquired.
"Midway focuses on coordination and precision. Enterprise is kind of like you, now that I think about it. A force of nature."
Agir grinned as she trained her cannons on the enemy force. "Comparing me to the revered Grey Ghost? Why, I'm flattered. Now, onwards! I've already gotten bored."
Helena META looked on at the boisterous display. "Enterprise doesn't have any of that bluster, that's for sure." Every version of the carrier she had met or watched was in some way, a stoic.
As Agir pounded away at the siren detachment, Helena META watched her radar for any threats. Her eyes widened when an unmistakable shape and movement pattern appeared upon the display.
"Agir, there's a pawn among those sirens."
"Just the one? This is worth distracting me, how?"
"Something about it is… strange. Helena, would you investigate?"
"Of course." Helena sailed towards the cluster of ships, remaining hidden behind some of the wreckage of the enemy fleet.
She crept, as quietly as she could, towards the center of the column. She found herself wishing for the ability to conjure a smokescreen like Sheffield and the other maids, which conjured the image of her wearing a maid costume. Shaking the uncomfortable imagery from her mind,
She eventually hid behind a wrecked drone battleship for cover. As she extended her vision via radar to the gap in the center of the column, she saw a lone figure.
They had pale brown hair, tinged with red, crimson streaks shooting through it, with two pieces of black metal adorning it like horns. She had a black uniform with the skirt tinged with blood red, and metal gauntlets with what appeared to be claws.
Their face was blank, and yet their empty brown eyes still seemed to convey a feeling of malice. A shudder ran through her as she realized just who the Sirens had built a copy of.
However, before she could warn Agir and her other self, she noticed the pawn turning towards the wrecked drone, and beginning to skate towards it.
Towards her.
As it picked up speed, Helena reached for her comms unit, but just as she did so, a cold, metallic grasp closed around her neck, lifting her up into the air, choking her.
As Helena struggled against her assailant's steel talons, Helena META rushed towards her, Agir just behind, riding her rigging like a dragon.
Upon reaching the scene, Helena META struck the pawn with a dart of energy, forcing the pawn that was choking Helena to drop her, and then froze the pawn with a scanning field.
She dropped Helena, who leaned on her rigging for support, breathing heavily. One of the beasts comprising Agir's rigging came for her to lean on as she slowly glided back to where her friends had come from.
With the excitement over, Agir took a good look at the pawn.
"Well now… Hello, Frau Roon."
So here was what was worth diverting her attention to. Agir grinned ruefully. Here was the closest thing she could ever have to a duel to the death with her closest predecessor, the first of the priority ships, Roon.
"Calm down, Agir. That isn't the real Roon. Just a copy. A husk." Helena's words were tired, as if she had said those words many times to many different kansen.
"That's just fine, actually. I could never bring myself to fight the real Roon, I'm actually quite fond of her."
"However…"
She grinned like a demon, her eyes glowing with what looked like hellfire, a similar flame beginning to billow from the mouths of her rigging.
"That just means the storm can rage unfettered! Stand back, you two! I will handle her alone."
She stepped forward, the pawn's attention already on her.
"Now, do your worst, siren husk."
The false cruiser fired mercilessly upon her, a barrage of AP shells striking Agir, who summoned her rigging to shield herself.
Rather than the brief sting of a bounced shell, Agir felt a strange, dull ache within her body. Her serpents' armor was covered with dents.
This was new. "Do you see that, cruisers of the Union? This pawn is the first opponent of mine to have ever so much as dented my armor. Burn the image into your minds, as you may not be able to see such a thing again in your mortal lives-"
Agir's monologue was cut off as she was struck in the shoulder by a shell from the pawn.
"Why, YOU-" Agir retaliated, firing her own cannons at her foe with a sound like rolling thunder, punctuated by brief pauses as she moved to adjust for the pawn's evasive maneuvering.
She was too caught up in the fighting, cackling like a villain as she indulged in the violence, to hear Helena META's quiet chuckling and Helena's attempts to hold it in herself. The moment was brief, however, as Agir continued to fight against "Roon", wearing the pawn down. While powerful, she had none of the unpredictability or skill that Roon had.
Thus, she was almost disappointed when she grabbed the pawn's rigging in the mouth of her own, its owner struggling helplessly, using another to grab its legs from below. Raising them into the air, she tore the rigging from the body of the pawn, crushed it within the maw of her own beast, and tossed the crumpled hook aside.
Her eyes flared with baleful light as she tossed the pawn's body into the air and fired upon it with HE shells. By the time she finished, there was nothing left, everything either pulverized or sent flying.
Breathing heavily as she came off of the rush of battle, she turned towards her companions, who stood a safe distance away, but not far enough to not see the glow in her eyes. They both shuddered, recoiling instinctively from the display.
Agir said nothing, thinking that consoling them over her methods could wait until after the battle.
"Come on, you two-" They were already at her side again, unease on their faces supplanted by renewed confidence.
Agir allowed herself a smile, a genuine one. Perhaps they wouldn't need to be consoled at all.
V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V
"Alright, Commander. I'm ready."
Wisconsin had since recovered from helping Midway, and was eager to join the fight.
"Everyone's keeping the bulk of the enemy force at bay with a decent amount of efficiency. Taking down their leader falls to you." Martinez responded, calm and collected.
"What am I looking for?" She replied.
"August and Shangri-La are reporting a dead zone in their scans, towards the center of the siren fleet. I'd suggest looking there. Midway will handle CAS while you make your way there. I assume you won't need much more help?"
Wisconsin suppressed a chuckle. "You've seen me work, sir. You know I won't." It went unspoken between them that she wouldn't refuse extra aid if she needed it.
Granted, if things got to that point, the fleet as a whole probably had far bigger problems.
She closed the comms channel and set sail, standing and watching the battle unfold from her bridge. The overcast sky was darkened by smoke rising from wrecked ships, and veins of red had begun to bleed through the cloud cover. It was hard to believe that it had been just past noon when the attack began.
Finishing that train of thought, she stepped outside and folded her arms, leaving her coat to trail in the wind.
"Heh… Reno, if only you could see me now…"
After Indulging in the moment, she returned inside and returned her arms to her coat. She couldn't spend too much time playing at being a hero, especially when she had to be an actual one for the fleet.
It suited her just fine, either way. She couldn't afford to forget about or be distracted from the people who relied on her when it came down to it.
She wouldn't let them down. Not as long as she could still fight.
Wisconsin tore through the already weakened main column of the siren fleet, aided by Midway's planes, which acted as spotters as well as swatting any threats, from the sea or air, that dared to approach.
As she continued the onslaught from her bridge, she looked to her wrist and noticed the bracelet around it. The weapon, the Redline, it had been called. She considered using it for a brief moment, then looked out at the waves. She had just fired, The 9 shells arcing towards their targets, secondary guns creating a blizzard of 5 inch shells where the main guns didn't reach.
She was driving the enemy down beneath her might, as she always had. So much so that she had time to introspect while doing so. If it was still so easy for her, then why did she need such a potentially dangerous weapon? The Sirens did adapt to their adversaries over time, but that hadn't been seen yet.
The day would come, she thought, before returning her attention to the battle. She just didn't much like the thought of what that would entail.
V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V
Before long, Wisconsin made it to the end of the enemy column. She and Midway had cut right through it.
"Still with me, Midway?" She asked, over the radio.
"Of course. We've blunted their assault, but it feels like they were just probing us. You'll have to knock their leadership out, or else they'll be reinforced." Midway answered, curtly.
"As usual. Anything from the commander on who's in charge?"
"Reports are inconclusive, but the sig is like that of Enforcer XIX."
"From around Antarctica, right? The one who roughed Helena and Reno up?"
"Correct. It's not her, though. Not bright enough."
Midway paused.
"Hold on a minute… Oh dear."
"What is it?"
"There are… There's a META concealment field mixed in with the rest of the energy signature."
Wisconsin grimaced. That would make things much more complicated. "I guess that's why the reports were inconclusive, huh?"
"Yes… I'm routing Friedrich and your sister over. They'll provide some artillery support until they can join in with their rigging."
With that, Wisconsin cracked her knuckles. It was going to be rough.